


And They Were Roommates

by slytherin1



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Muggle, Bisexual Harry Potter, Coma, Eventual Romance, Light Angst, M/M, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Content, Multi, Physical Abuse, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-03
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-05-01 08:02:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14515956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slytherin1/pseuds/slytherin1
Summary: Harry Potter has college life all figured out: athletic scholarship, good-looking girlfriend, and his bestfriends by his side. His only problem? His roommate is the most stuck up person he's ever met.And Harry thinks he's falling for him





	1. Grumpy Beginnings

 

"Harry, what the fuck do you have in here? A ton of bricks?" Ron Weasley asked. His knuckles were white and he made soft grunting noises as he strained himself to put the box labeled  ** _Soccer Equipment_** into a bigger box. "My arms are gonna fall off, I swear."

"Careful, mate, that's my stuff you're holding," Harry Potter told one of his bestfriends as he slammed the trunk door of his car shut. 

" _Shit!_ " Ron swore loudly as he almost dropped the heavy cardboard box he was attempting to haul down the street. Harry could hear all his possessions clinking and rolling around inside, and he hoped to God nothing important would break. 

"You kiss Hermione with that mouth?" said Harry, grinning. He pushed the button on his suitcase handle and started rolling it towards the tall white and green building. 

"Oh, shut up, Harry." The tips of Ron's ears turned bright pink as they always did at the mere mention of his girlfriend. 

Setting the box he was carrying on the smooth pavement for a bit, Harry pulled open one of the double doors and held it open as Ron walked past him, still struggling with his box.

"You know," Harry said, smirking, "you could ask for help if that's to heavy for you."

"Fuck off."

"Hi!" A bubbly voice greeted them. It belonged to the dark haired female sitting behind the elegant front desk. "Welcome to the Emerald Dorms! Just give me your names and I'll grab your information for you." 

Harry told her his name, and she immediately started typing, her red acrylic nails drumming loudly on the keys. 

While the young lady (Katie Bell, her nametag read) pressed some buttons and scrolled, Harry surveyed the entrance hall. It was very nice indeed: a bright gold chandelier hanging from the ceiling, expensive looking arm chairs sitting beside equally expensive looking tables and exotic plants, and walls made almost entirely out of enourmous glass panes. Sunlight poured in from every direction, making the room warm and casting peculiar shadows on the white wall behind the desk. 

"Here you are," said Katie Bell, and Harry turned to grab the paper she was offering him. 

"Your name, dormmate's name, and room number and floor are on there," she explained. She rummaged around in a drawer and handed Harry a small silver key. "Key replacements are five dollars. The lift is straight down the hall and to the right. Enjoy your stay, Mr. Potter!"

Harry thanked her politely then walked over to the elevator. Once he and Ron were inside, he pushed the button labeled 4. Chipper elevator music played softly through overhead speakers. 

"I wish my mother had let me move in with you," Ron grumbled. "Ever since Bill and Fleur announced their engagement it's non stop wedding talk at my place. It's been driving me and Ginny mad." 

"Thank God I declined your mom's offer of letting me stay at your place for college," Harry said. 

The elevator doors dinged open. Harry felt like he was watching a ping pong match as he turned his head side to side to read the brass numbers on every door. Finally, they arrived at number 23. 

Harry inserted the key into the knob and opened the door, and he and Ron stepped inside. Compared to the lobby, the dorms were quite simple. Two full sized beds were againsg the wall on either side of the room with drawers underneath for clothes, a nightstand directly in between them, and a short hallway leading into a small kitchen area and a bathroom. 

"It looks like your roommate isn't here yet," observed Ron. "What's his name, anyways?" 

Harry, who had just set the suitcase and box on top of his chosen bed, fished the paper out of his pants pocket and unfolded it. "Draco Malfoy."

Ron chortled. "That has got to be the stupidest fucking name I have _ever_ heard." 

"You thought the same thing about Hermione when you first met her," Harry pointed out. "Look how that turned out."

Ron shut up at once and suggested they start unpacking. 

After all his clothes were neatly folded, his toiletries in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom, and his many posters plastered across the walls and ceiling, Harry and Ron sat on his bed, side by side, and talked about the upcoming school year. 

A phone started ringing just as they got bored and started nosing around in the nighstand drawers. Ron pulled his sleek black iPhone out of his back jeans pocket. The screen showed a photo of him with his arms around a curly haired woman. The contact name was simply an H with a red heart. 

"She's probably calling to ask me to help her carry the mountains of books she just checked out at the university library," said Ron. He clapped Harry on the shoulder. "Hermione wants to meet up at the Java Lava later at five, by the way. See you later, Harry." And with that he exited, chatting happily away with Hermione. 

Harry continued rifling through the drawers and discovered that there were loads of pamphlets about the school and extracuriculars and whatnot. He decided to make two piles on his bed: ones he would give to Hermione next time he saw her, and ones he and Ron would actually find useful.

As soon as he had finished, the door swung open (a bit dramatically in Harry's opinion), and Draco Malfoy stepped into the room. 

Harry's brain short circuited as soon as he laid eyes on the man. Draco Malfoy was, for lack of a better term, beautiful. He had silky blond-white hair and skin almost as pale as that. Startling gray eyes, prominent cheekbones, and salmon pink lips. He was only about two or three inches taller than Harry and well-built. 

After a few moments, Harry's brain started working again, and he realised he was probably being rude by not introducing himself. 

He offered his hand. "I'm Harry Potter. Your roommate, as you can see." 

Draco glanced down at his hand. "Pleasure. Draco Malfoy." And he pushed right past Harry and to his bed. His eyes scanned Harry's red and gold striped bed spread and Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco band posters with a facial expression that suggested he found them atrocious. Harry clenched his fist protectively. There was nothing wrong with his posters, right?

Harry watched him, utterly dumbfounded. So far, his new roommate seemed like a bir of a dick. Not a good way to start of the year. 

Harry pretended to look busy on his phone so it wasn't obvious he was staring at Draco. He was organising his expensive looking clothes by color (there seemed to be only four colors he owned). 

Draco must have sensed Harry's eyes watching him, because he suddenly whirled around and stood, arms crossed.

"We might as well set some ground rules," said Draco. He arranged the digital clock on the nightstand so that it divided it into two equal halves. He slid over Harry's keychain onto the side closest to Harry's bed. Harry could already sense where he was going with this. 

" _That_ -" Draco said, pointing a long finger and Harry's bed- "is your side of the room. This is mine. We only stay on our sides of the room. You can only come onto my side when you need to use the restroom or go to the kitchen. Don't touch any of my stuff unless I specifically tell you to. Don't bring too much people over and if you do keep them on your side or in the kitchen or anywhere except my side. More rules will be added in the future." 

Harry raised his eyebrows.  _Oh, is that all?_ said the voice inside his head. He opened his mouth to protest but Draco had already went back to putting his belongings away, ignoring his roommate. 

Harry rolled his eyes slightly and racked his brains for something to do. He had a couple of hours before he needed to meet up with his two bestfriends...ah. He hadn't seen Cho in a couple of weeks...

His mind made up, he grabbed the keys to his Toyota and his phone from his side of the nightstand. 

"I'm going out," he said to Draco's back. "I'll be back later tonight." 

As usual, his handsome roommate ignored him. Harry gave a frustrated sigh. 

 

***

 

After spending a couple of well spent hours with Cho Chang and attempting (and failing) to make his hair and clothes presentable to the public, Harry strolled into the Lava Java.

"Harry! Over here!" yelled Hermione, her silver bracelets jangling together as she waved him over to her and Ron's table in the back. She slid him a cup of iced coffee with his name scrawled messily and some treacle tart on wax paper once he had sat down. 

"Did you and Cho have fun?" Ron asked innocently. 

Harry almost fell out of his chair and onto the floor. Ron snorted, and Hermione made a  _tsk tsk_ noise with her tongue. 

Harry regained his composure, sat up straight, and asked, "That obvious, huh?"

Ron laughed. "She only left her entire tube of lipstick all over your face and neck."

Harry checked his reflection in his phone screen and blushed. Hermione handed Harry a fistfull of napkins, and he scrubbed and wiped furiously to remove the marks his girlfriend had left on him. 

"For your information, Ronald, _yes_ we did have fun," Harry said once he had thrown away the stained napkins. Ron flipped him the bird with a smirk on his lips. 

As Harry reached for a bite of his treacle tart, Ron said, "I hope you washed your hands first, mate." 

"Oh, my God, Ronald!" chided Hermione, her cheeks turning pink. The table was slightly jostled. Harry figured Hermione had reached over to kick Ron in the shin. He assumed by Ron's slight wince that her foot had found its target. 

"I'm just promoting proper hygiene, my dear," said Ron. 

Harry, with his clean hands, thank you very much, ate his food in silence as Hermione brought Harry up to speed. She talked about how much she liked her dorm, her quirky but likeable roommate Luna Lovegood, and how she was already planning her study habits for future tests and quizzes. Ron raised his eyebrows in dismay, but switched to a tender look when Hermione turned to ask him about his older brother and fianceé. 

"I'm tired of talking about Bill and Fleur and their fucking wedding," Ron muttered loudly. "I already have to listen to their stupid plans all day at home; I don't want to do that here, too."

 "Oh, for fuck's sake, Ron, their _wedding_  plans aren't  _stupid_ -" Hermione looked scandalized as she was cut off by Ron.

"Meet your new roommate yet, Harry?" he asked. 

Harry, sipping his coffee and discovering that it didn't mingle all that well with the taste of Cho Chang that was left over on his tongue, suddenly rolled his eyes at the mention of that good-looking prat. 

"He's a stuck up asshole," Harry said. 

"Harry, he can't be that bad," reasoned Hermione. "You haven't even known him for a day."

"He made a list of 'rules' about fifteen seconds after he arrived. And he said he would be adding more as time went on. And he ignores me pretty much everytime I try and talk to him."

"He sounds like a prick," said Ron. "I hope he doesn't turn out to be as bad as his name." 

"What's his name?" inquired Hermione. She looked a bit tense. She knew firsthand how hard it was having an odd name. 

"Go on, Harry, tell him," Ron chuckled and urged his bestfriend. "I'm telling you, it's the funniest thing I've ever heard..."

"It's Draco Malfoy," said Harry. 

Hermione pursed her lips. "Well, it is certaintly an _interesting_ name. And, Harry, I'm sure things will get better with Draco."

"They better," Harry muttered. "Or else I might actually go mad."

Hermione flicked some crumbs of the table. "Stop exaggerating, Harry. You'll be fine once you get to know him." 

Harry hoped to God she wasn't wrong. 

 

***

 

 


	2. You Won't Believe this False Hope

 

And for maybe the first time in her life, Hermione Granger was wrong. Getting to know Draco Malfoy only proved what he and Ron had suspected: that he was a pompous and dramatic little shit. And not in a good way. 

Example: It had become a habit of Malfoy's that whenever Harry walked into their dorm while Malfoy was already there to roll his eyes and mutter, "Potter," just loud enough for Harry to hear. 

And everytime, Harry would roll his eyes so hard he was pretty sure they would travel to an alternate dimension somewhere in the back of his head. Did he really have to act like a dick everytime he so much as breathed? It wasn't like Harry _lived_ there or anything. 

In fact, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had resorted to calling him by his last name. Harry and Hermione claimed it was because he was a selfish git, while Ron insisted it was because "Draco" was too stupid for him to say with a straight face. 

It had only been about three weeks of them living together, and Harry was somehow both cross and turned on by Malfoy at the same time. Almost everyday, Malfoy would either ignore him or say something frustrating (like insult Harry's clothes or hair or friends non stop) and at the early hours of the morning, Harry would wake up with sticky sheets brought on by steamy dreams about Malfoy and a feeling of guilt like he was cheating on his girlfriend somehow. 

At least Malfoy hadn't picked up on it.

Yet. 

Harry wasn't the most subtle person in the world, after all. Hermione, whose knack for picking up on small details was both a blessing and a curse, had started looking at Harry suspiciously whenever Harry brought up Malfoy. He hoped she didn't pick up on anything. 

She proved him wrong a couple days later. 

Harry was just minding his own business in the library when Hermione plopped her tower of books and homework in front of him and said, "Harry, can I ask you something?"

Everything wrong Harry had ever done in his nineteen years of life flashed through his mind, but he found the words, "Sure, what's up?" falling out of his mouth. 

"Are you sure you really hate Malfoy?"

"What the fuck kind of question is that? Of course I do." 

Hermione made a face. "See, you claim to hate him, but it doesn't really...seem like you do."

Harry blanched. "What do you mean? Of course I hate him. I hate his stupid opinions, and stupid rich clothes, and his stupid face and stupid bloody hair and...." he trailed off as Hermione raised her eyebrow knowingly at him. 

"If you really 'hate him' then why do you blush everytime you talk about him?"

Harry's cheeks grew hotter as random bits of his wet dreams came to mind: Malfoy straddling Harry's hips, their mouths clashing in hot, steamy kisses, Malfoy's hands running down his bare back and to wrap around his- nope no stop. Harry shut that part of his mind down. He didn't want to find out what the ancient looking librarian would do to him if he creamed inside of one of her books. 

"I'm not blushing," Harry persisted, his voice sounding unconvincing even to his ears. "My face is just red with...rage. Yeah, rage."

"I've heard better excuses from Ron," scoffed Hermione. "Listen, Harry, I'm obviously not going to tell anyone-"

"-because there is nothing to tell anyone about."

Hermione, realising she wouldn't get anywhere for now, said, "If you say so." 

And she dropped the subject.

Hermione's words replayed on a loop as Harry trudged back to his dorm after a particularly rough soccer practice. So what if Malfoy's face sometimes crept into his mind during a good wank? So what if Harry thought his roommate was ridiculously hot? You can hate someone and still want them to use your face as a chair. 

Harry swung open his room door exhaustedly and was preparing himself to crash onto his bed for a nice nap before dinner when a cold voice said, "Oh, fuck no." 

Harry closed his eyes and exhaled sharply. "What now, Malfoy?"

Malfoy stepped out of the kitchen, arms folded against his chest and disgust written on his face. 

"I just cleaned the floor, and there is _no_ way I'm letting you get your filth on it," Malfoy spat. He pointed his thumb over his shoulder. "Shower. Now." 

"You can't tell me what to fucking-" Harry gave up mid sentence as he was too tired to have another petty argument. "Fine. I'll shower."

Malfoy stepped out of his way as if he would catch a terrible disease just by being in proximity of Harry. "And don't touch my shampoo."

"Like I want to walk around smelling like a twat," Harry said in an undertone. "What grown ass man uses mango scented shampoo?"

Harry stepped into the shower and immediately realised he had a mild boner. Making an annoyed noise, he looked down at his crotch and said, "Stop that." 

His penis did not reply or obey him. What a shame.

Harry sighed as he abondoned his shower and began working on relieving himself. 

He thought of Cho's face and of her naked body, of how soft her skin felt under his hands, and her cries of pleasure. He imagined himself trailing kisses down her torso, and when he made his way back up, he realised her breasts had disappeared. Her skin was paler, and her jet black hair had shrunken and turned a palest blond. She had turned into Draco Malfoy. As soon as Malfoy let out a moan, Harry felt warm liquid spill into his hand and down his wrist. 

"Damn it," he muttered. 

It only escalated from there.

 

***

 

A few days later, Harry was lying on his stomach in bed, books and homework spread out in a fan around him, when the bathroom door opened. Steam poured out in waves as Malfoy exited, waterlogged hair clinging to his forehead and nude except for the towel wrapped around his waist. 

"Just getting the clothes I forgot," he said. There wasn't even a hint of embarassment in his voice as he made his way to his bed.

Harry tried his best not to stare, really. He had to focus on his academics or that would risk his scholarship, but oh my, was Malfoy well built under those expensive clothes. 

He was lithe and lean, with muscles formed no doubt by months of hard work. The towel slipped just a smidge as he leaned down to reveal a faint line of hair that trailed from his stomach and down to his crotch area. 

Malfoy stood, clothes folded neatly in the crook of his arm, and walked back to the bathroom to change. As he reached the door, however, he turned and smirked at Harry. "Enjoying the view, aren't you, Potter?" 

Harry felt as if his face were about to spontaneously combust. He was mute as he re read the same complicated equation over and over but not making sense of it as Malfoy stared at him hard. 

Malfoy's smirk widened as he called back, "Figured you were bent." 

Harry swallowed hard as he willed his penis to behave and stay in it's spot. He conjured up images of the most unappealing things he could think of: spiders, his highschool chemistry teacher Professor Snape, and watching Ron eat after a long day of not eating. 

 _I need to talk to Hermione,_ he thought once he calmed down enough to have coherent thoughts again.

Harry sent her a quick text asking to meet at the Java Lava in fifteen minutes. He breathed a sigh of relief when she texted back a thumbs up emoji. 

 

***

 

Exactly fifteen minutes later, Hermione slid into the deep red booth across from Harry. 

"If this is about wanting to copy my homework again, the answer is no," she said breathlessly, having obviously walked.  

"If I wanted to copy you I wouldn't ask to meet here," Harry explained. "I'd ask to meet at Ron's place or something." 

"Funny." 

"This is about," Harry said, lowering his voice, "Malfoy." 

"What about him?"

Harry pressed his lips together tightly. "I may or may not...not hate the prick." 

"In other words..." encouraged Hermione. 

"I may have feelings for him. And not the usual ones like anger and frustration. Like...romantic feelings." 

Hermione smiled. "There, don't you feel better?"

"Hell no." 

Hermione shrugged. "At least you can admit it now."

"I just don't understand," Harry said frustratedly. "He's so goddamn aggravating and he's always insulting us and he has a bunch of stupid rules and-ugh!" 

"It's not _that_ bad, Harry," reasoned Hermione. 

"Not that bad?" Harry repeated. "It's frickin' _Malfoy_ , for fuck's sake! If you even heard half the stuff he says about you and Ron you'd know how bad it is. That, and I have a girlfriend. Liking someone else makes me feel dirty, like I'm cheating on her."

"That's preposterous." Hermione wrinkled her eyebrows. "Having feelings for somebody else doesn't count as cheating. As long as you don't act on your urges you're fine." 

"Surprised you don't want me to cheat on Cho. You and Ron hate her."

"We don't hate her!"

"After I introduced her to you guys, Ron turned to me and said, 'Well, at least she's sort of good-looking. Makes up for everything else.'"

"Okay, maybe we think you're better off without her, but that's not the point of this conversation, Harry. The point is you liking Malfoy isn't a big deal." 

"If it isn't a big deal, then why aren't we telling Ron?" Harry countered. 

"We'll tell him," Hermione insisted with a wave of her hand. "Eventually." 

 

***

 

"Harry!" cried a female voice as soon as he reached his dormitory door. He barely had time to look up from his phone when someone crashed into him. His vision filled with shiny black hair as Cho Chang practically ran him over with a hug. 

"W-what are you doing here?" He asked her once she let go. 

Cho batted her heavily mascaraed lashes at him. "I came to surprise you, Harry. We haven't seen each other in weeks." She trailed her perfectly manicured nails down his chest and to his hips. 

Harry smiled at her a bit forcefully. "Yeah, let me just open the door. Make sure my roommate isn't inside." 

As soon as he opened the door and received no answer when he announced he was coming inside, Cho grabbed his cheeks in both hands and kissed him hard. He shut the door with his foot as he whirled her around and laid her on his bed. 

Cho groaned softly as he kissed her neck. Her fingers were working on unbuttoning his pants and kicking off both their shoes. They hit the floor with a soft thud, and Harry said, "Condoms are in the top nightstand drawer."

Cho reached an arm behind her to grab the condom, her other arm pushing Harry's pants down to his ankles. She placed it on the nightstand and threw her tank top onto the floor. 

"I knew it was a good day to wear a skirt," she breathed in Harry's ear. 

Harry was only half paying attention as she got his t-shirt over his head. He was more focused on hoping he didn't accidentally say Malfoy's name as he and Cho had sex. 

Luckily, he didn't have to worry. He and Cho didn't get very far. 

The lock on the door clicked, and Harry heard Malfoy swing the door open in his usual dramatic manner. 

Harry bit his lip in order to avoid sighing with relief. 

"Well, this is _riveting_ ," said Malfoy in a bored voice. But there was a certain undertone to that statement that Harry couldn't quite but his finger on. He chalked it up to vexation. 

Cho looked for the source of the voice underneath Harry's arm while grabbing her discarded shirt to cover her naked chest. "Oh!" She wriggled out from underneath him and sat up with a smile. "You must be Harry's roommate. I'm his girlfriend, Cho Chang." 

Malfoy gave her a look. Harry couldn't quite name the look in his eyes as he looked Cho up and down. "Yes, Po- _Harry_ has mentioned you a few times." 

"I am so sorry for this," apologized Cho. "We weren't aware you were going to be here. Harry, can you hand me my..." she stopped and pointed, her face burning with embarassment just like Harry's. Wordlessly, he passed her her navy blue bra. 

Malfoy politely walked into the bathroom as the happy couple composed themselves. 

"Sorry he ruined our evening," Harry said in an undertone as Cho grabbed her purse. 

"It's alright. We can always do this some other time. If you ever come up to see me again," she added a bit scornfully. 

"Cho, I already told you, I'll go and visit when I have the time-"

Cho rolled her eyes. "You _never_ have time for me anymore. Not since you got accepted here."

"That is not true.”

”You haven’t come to my place in weeks. My parents are starting to think that we’ve broken up.”

“We've been over this already, Cho. You know I have practice and grades to keep up for my scholarship."

Cho placed her fingers on his lips. "Stop it. Let's talk about this later. Bye, Harry." She gave him a swift kiss on his cheek and shut the door behind her. 

Frustrated both emotionally and sexually, Harry ran his hands through his mop of unruly curls as he slid down the wall. 

"Is your mistress gone?" asked Malfoy. He was still inside the bathroom, but Harry had a sneaking suspicion he had overheard his and Cho's arguement. 

Malfoy withdrew from his hideout and sat down on his mountain of silk covered pillows and said, "Another rule to add: no inviting people over here for sex. After that little lover's quarrel you had, that shouldn't be a problem in the future." 

"Shouldn't be a problem for you either, Malfoy," Harry shot back. "Seeing as nobody in their right mind would ever be interested in _you_."

"I don't know," Malfoy said. His lips had curled into a smug smile. "You seemed to be pretty _interested_  in me the other day. Is that why you had me walk in on you and Chang just now? Trying to prove you're straight after all?" 

"I don't have to prove my sexuality to you! Not that it matters, but I'm straight. You on the other hand..."

Draco shot to his feet and sneered. "In your dreams, Potter." 

Harry felt heat creep up his neck and ears. Oh, he had _no_ idea...

Malfoy had a triumphant smirk on his face. "No comeback, Potter? What a shame." He plopped back onto his bed and pulled out a book. 

Harry sat on his bed and pulled out his phone. He was breathing rather heavily, and he didn't know if it was from irritation because of his row with Malfoy or if he was exhaustes from screaming. He decided on both. 

Something was tugging on Harry's brain cells in the back of his mind, trying to put some puzzle pieces together. Only problem was, he didn't quite know what. It didn't occur to him until he was inches from sleep that night. 

His eyes suddenly shot open. He could feel his heartbeat start to beat in double time as he finally recognized the look Malfoy had given Cho earlier when he had walked in on them. 

It wasn't a disgruntled look, or even one full of lust. 

It was jealousy. 

But why the hell would Malfoy be looking at Cho jealously?

 

***

 

 

 


	3. Mixed Signals

 

Harry didn't understand why Malfoy was being such an asshole. If the situation had been reversed, and Harry had been the one to find Malfoy in bed with some doe-eyed girl, Harry wouldn't have given one single fuck.

At least that's what he kept telling himself. 

For days Harry racked his brains to try and find an explanation for why Malfoy would be jealous of Cho. He couldn't come up with anything. He even expressed his concerns to Hermione, who gave him a non plausible answer: 

"Maybe he likes you too, Harry."

He wasn't going to lie. He had been thinking that but he always pushed that thought away. It was simply impossible. Malfoy despised him; he most likely found him revolting after the incident with Cho. He would hardly look at Harry anymore (not that he ever did but it was like Harry didn't even live with him anymore). 

And although it gave his mouth a sour sort of taste whenever he said it out loud, Harry realised he actually missed their petty squabbles. 

During the weeks leading up to their Christmas holidays, Harry had starting recieving a handful of mixed signals from his roommate. Malfoy had stopped giving him the cold shoulder long ago, but now he waa leaving Harry more confused than ever. One minute he would be (semi) nice to Harry, not even complaining if he left his soccer equipment lying around on the floor or if some mud got on the teakwood floors, and Harry felt relieved. 

But then Harry would come home some days and it would be back to the good old fashioned "Pretend Harry Potter doesn't exist" game. 

Harry just couldn't figure him out. 

One particular evening when Harry had come back from Cho's place, he'd had enough. Malfoy's demeanor had been as frosty as the weather outside all week, but as soon as he rolled his gray eyes and muttered something about mistresses, Harry threw down whatever he was holding (he later found out it was his shin guards) and snapped , "For fuck's sake, Malfoy, would you stop that?"

Malfoy raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. "Stop what, Potter?" 

Harry threw his arms out, gesticulating as he said, "This! Your obvious problem with me, your obvious problem with Cho-don't you fucking walk away! I'm not finished!" 

Malfoy spun on his heel and inched closer to Harry. He raised his eyebrows at him briefly as if to say, "Well, go on."

"Ever since you walked in on me and her...you know.... you've been even more uptight than usual," Harry continued. 

"Uptight? Me?" Malfoy asked, a scandalized look on his face. 

"Yes, you! Sometimes you're actually a decent person to me and then you'll do a fucking one-eighty and act like an asshat again. And I'm sick and tired of it!" 

"Then why don't you just pack up your shit and move out of here? Do us both a huge bloody favor!" 

"Why should I be the one to move out? I haven't done anything wrong!" Harry was shouting at this point. 

"Well, neither have I!" Malfoy roared, his voice level slightly above Harry's now. His cheeks were turning red. He was clenching his fists tightly. 

"Oh, really? Setting all these stupid ass rules the minute you stepped into this dormitory?"

"There's nothing wrong with setting reasonable boundaries."

"Yours are anything _but_ reasonable! God, I just don't get what your deal is with me."

Malfoy flashed Harry his trademark sneer. "My deal with you? Bloody hell, you're wearing glasses and you are still so blind to everything, aren't you?" 

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Harry squeezed his eyes shut. He counted to ten before opening them again. Malfoy was still staring at him. 

"You know what? I'm done with this." He trudged over to his bed and started throwing clothes into a bag angrily. 

"Where are you going?" inquired Malfoy. He didn't sound enraged anymore, only curious. Whatever. 

"Spending the night at Ron's. Or maybe the week and a half left of this semester. So I won't bother you."

"Fine by me," was Malfoy's venemous reply. "Hope the door hits you on your way out." And he left their shared bedroom and walked into the bathroom. 

Harry was panting all through the twenty minute drive to Ron's house. He wasn't angry anymore; only even more confused, if that was possible. 

He shook his head vigourously, trying to shove Malfoy out for now. 

A beautiful young woman with long silvery hair and perfect pale skin answered the door. Fleur Delacour. 

"Harry!" she said. He noticed her French accent was slowly fading after months of living in the states. 

"We weren't expecting you. Are you alright?" she asked. 

Harry nodded. "Mind if I come in?" 

Fleur opened the door wider and stepped aside. Harry strolled on inside. He sniffed, and the familiar smell of sugar and butter wafted into his nose. 

"Mrs. Weasley making dessert?" he asked Fleur. 

She shook her head. "Just me, Bill, Ginevra, and Ron for today. The Mrs. is visiting her sisters for a few days, and Mr. is working until early tomorrow morning." 

"Fleur, darling," called a voice from deeper inside the house. "Who's at the door?"

"It's only Harry, _mon amour,_ " Fleur replied. 

The eldest Weasley came strolling out of the kitchen, his signature red ponytail swinging behind him and black leather gleaming. 

"Harry," Bill greeted him and they shook hands. "Why do you have a bag? Brought us some presents, have you?"

Harry smiled softly. "No, I was just wondering if I could spend the night here for now." 

"Everything alright at your dorm?"

He nodded. "No, yeah, everything is okay there. I just...needed a break from my roommate." 

Fleur looked like she was about to launch into another one of her anecdote from her time in America before she knew proper English when her soon to be husband said to Harry, "I'm sure mother won't mind if you use Fred and George's old room. Or you can bunk with Ron if you would like." 

"The twin's old room is fine," Harry said. He made his way there, dropped his bag onto the bed, and walked next door to Ron's. 

The two youngest Weasley's were sitting on Ron's bed. Ron was scrolling through his phone while Ginny critisized whatever it was they were looking at. 

"If you're going to use that one be prepared for her to throw it at your bloody head," Ginny was saying. 

"How exactly is this helping me?"

"I'm helping you to not get rejected," Ginny shot back matter-of-factly.

Harry stepped forward, and a floorboard creaked. 

Ron looked up at the sound. "Ginny, get out," he said. 

"Oh, that's real nice of you," she snapped. She smirked at Harry as she left. 

"Thought you said weddings were stupid," Harry whispered. 

Ron raised both hands and stuck up his middle fingers in greeting. 

"I'll tell your mom so she can cut your fingers off next time."

Ron grinned. "I know you didn't come all this way just to insult me."

"This time I didn't. I came because Malfoy was being even more prickish than usual. We had a lovely shouting match right before I came here." 

"How long are you staying here?"

Harry stared up at the ceiling. "Don't know. Might be here for tonight or a couple of days. I might just stay until I head home for the winter holidays." 

"As long as you don't jerk off to Malfoy while you're here, you can stay as long as you want." 

Harry whirled around so fast he got whiplash. He stared wide eyed at his bestfriend. He was about to say something and deny that but he knew it was pointless. 

"Hermione told me a couple days ago," Ron explained. "You know how she hates keeping secrets." 

"You don't think I'm crazy?"

"Oh no, mate, I think you're absolutely off your rocker," Ron assured him. He shrugged. "But Hermione already gave you the stern talking to about him, and we both know she's much better with words than I am." 

Harry hadn't realized he was holding his breath until his lungs burned, begging him to exhale. 

"I think I'm done with him this time," said Harry at last. "He's just so....so.... _so_..."

" _So_ ," Ron finished in agreement. "That about explains his character." He clapped Harry on the back with one hand and lifted his wrist to his eyes to check his watch. "Fleur should be done making dinner right about now." 

Harry shook his head no. He wasn't very hungry (and that was saying something) after the day he just had. Ron promised to sneak him a plate before going downstairs.

In the meantime, Harry went back to Fred and George's room and laid down on the bed, one hand folded behind his head, the other tossing and catching a black rubber ball. 

The ball went up. 

_"My deal with you?"_

It came back down. 

_"Bloody hell, you're wearing glasses and you are still so blind to everything"_

Up.

_"Aren't you?"_

Down. 

What had Malfoy meant when he called him blind? 

It seemed all Harry did was question Malfoy and his choice's.

Frustrated, Harry sat up and threw the ball at the wall to his left. It made a dull thud and left a shallow imprint on the wall. He wasn't too worrjed about that: Mrs. Weasley would just assume it was her twin's doing. 

"That's my wall you're throwing things at, too, you know," quipped Ginny. 

Harry turned, having not noticed her. "How long have you been standing there?"

"Not very long," she replied. She sat down next to him. Her thigh was pressed against his, and he realized this was the firsg time they had been completely alone in almost 3 years. Not since their breakup. Of course, he considered her more of a sister now. 

"Something must've gotten you real mad if you've started throwing things," she said. 

Harry didn't answer her. 

"C'mon, Harry, you can tell me. I'm not a kid anymore."

"You're still not eighteen. Argh," he said. She had smacked him a bit hard. 

"I know you. Something's bothering you."

" _Someone_ is bothering me," he corrected. 

"That blond prick Ron goes on about when he's on the phone with you?" Ginny guessed. 

Harry nodded. "Malfoy. We had yet another row earlier. I'm still thinking about it. I just can't seem to let it go."

"Why not?"

"Something he said at the end of it. I asked him what his deal with me was. He said I was so blind I couldn't see it. I guess I'm just puzzled."

"Well, the reason you can't get him out of your head is you like him," Ginny said. 

Harry exhaled hard. "Yeah. At first I thought it was just sexual or I was hallucinating because I hadn't been with Cho in a while. Now...I don't know."

"You can't keep arguing with him and suppressing your feelings at the same time," Ginny reasoned. 

"I'm not gonna bloody tell him," Harry snapped. 

Ginny narrowed her eyes at him. She looked so much like her mother when she was angry. "Don't take that tone with me, Harry. I didn't say you had to tell him. I only meant you have to think about what's best for you."

Harry stayed quiet, and then, "You think I should move out? Leave the dorm to him?"

"If you think that's best in this scenario." She had placed her hand on his shoulder. 

Harry nodded grimly. "I'll think about it." 

 

***

 

"Mother will be over the moon once you tell her the news," Ron told Harry. 

"I think she already knows," Harry replied. "I've put up most of my posters in the twin's old room and even hsed my pillows and bedspread."

There was one day left of the term, and Harry had been staying at the Weasley's for days. He had only gone back to his dorm when he ran out of clothes or needed his soccer equipment. He made sure he went while Malfoy was at class. He didn't want a repeat of the last time they had been in the same room. 

"But remember, it's only for a few weeks," Harry continued. "I'm trying to find a new place so I won't bother your parents."

"You could never bother them. Didn't Cho offer you her bed or something?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Course she did. I lied and said I already had a place. She seemed dissapointed but not for long."

"Yuck." Ron wrinkled his nose at him. 

Harry searched the piles of assorted clothes he was trying to organize in his new closet. "Shit," he said softly. 

"What?"

"I left my away game uniform at the dorm. Must have forgot it."

"Go and get it when we get back."

Harry shook his head. "I need it for next week. And the dorms close first thing tomorrow morning. I have to go today." 

Ron checked his watch. "What time did you say Malfoy has class?"

"Ten thirty. Ends at one."

"You have at least an hour before he gets back. I can go if you'd like, mate."

Again, Harry shook his head. "It's fine, I'll go." He grabbed his keys and put on his shoes. "Tell Molly I'll be back in a few." 

Harry slid into the seat of his car and as he drove, he clenched the wheel so hard his finger left impressions in the material.

 

***

 

Harry for the life of him couldn't remember where he'd left his uniform. 

"I swear I left it in here," he said to himself. He searched behind the dirty laundry hamper. No luck. He grunted in frustration. 

He walked back into the bedroom and stopped dead in his tracks. 

Draco Malfoy was standing in front of the closed door. 

For a while the two men just stared at one another, like two animals sizing each other up before a fight. 

Harry was the first to break the silence. "Thought you were at class."

Draco cocked his head in bewilderment. "Not today. It's Thursday."

Harry cursed himself. How could he have forgotten?

"Anyways, why are you here? Thought you had cleared out days ago," Draco said. 

"I came back for my soccer uniform."

"The white one?"

Harry knit his eyebrows. "You've never seen me play, how did you know that? 

Draco knelt, opened up one of his drawers, and pulled out Harry's flour white jersey and shorts, both neatly folded and nestled amongst his clothes. It looked out of place against the expensive fabric. 

"You kept it?"

"Got mixed in with my laundry one day," Malfoy explained. "Didn't know where you were to return it."

"You could have left it on my bed." 

"It was a couple days ago. Figured you would be back for it anyways." He stuck his hand out. Harry accepted his clothes. 

"Anything else I've left?" He asked. 

"Why? You're coming back in a couple weeks."

"No, I'm not."

"What?" Malfoy's face had gone a few shades paler. 

"You told me to move out and so I am," Harry said, his throat tight. He moved over to "his side" of the room. He felt Malfoy lash out and grab his wrist and turn Harry to face him. He shook out of his grip. 

"Potter," he said. His eyes were wider than usual.

"Malfoy," Harry answered. His heart pounded against his ribcage as he realized how close to two of them were standing. He noticed Malfoy had a light freckle near his left eye. His eyes looked silver in the sunlight. 

"Malfoy, you're on my side of the room," he whispered. His voice sounded terrified and also a bit hopeful. 

Malfoy inched closer. "I know." 

Harry could feel Malfoy's warm breath on his face. He was much too close now. Harry kept looking down at their sneakers nervously. Their toes were touching.

"Malfoy-" the other man stopped the flow of his words by gently pressing the pads of his fingers to Harry's lips. 

"This is going to sound so goddamn cliché," he whispered, "but please, don't move out. Stay." 

"Why? So you can make snide remarks under your breath and pretend I don't exist? So you can yell about how much you hate me?" Harry didn't understand why he didn't just step back and leave with his uniform. He willed his feet to move backwards and out the door, but they refused to obey him. 

"I never hated you, Potter," said Malfoy. His hands gripped Harry's cheeks, almost squishing them, and he leaned down and pressed his mouth to Harry's. 

Harry felt as if his brain was a phone somebody had dropped into a pool. He just stood there, his back rigid. The tip of Malfoy's cold tongue prodded at his sealed lips. He realized he should probably start kissing back, and he melted into the kiss. He heard a dull _thunk_ as he dropped his soccer uniform. His hands slid up, one curling its fingers into Malfoy's velvety smooth hair at the nape of his neck, and the other rested on the bend of his waist. 

Harry opened his mouth, and Malfoy's tongue slid inside smoothly. He skimmed it over his bottom row of teeth, and Harry gripped Malfoy tighter to keep himself from absolutely crumbling to the floor. He had never used tongue while kissing, and he felt like such an idiot for never having done it. 

Harry suddenly felt Malfoy' knees pushing at his legs, and he walked backwards until his knees buckled as they hit his bed and he leaned over on his back. 

They paused for air (Harry had forgotten that breathing was a necessity for life) and Malfoy laughed. 

"What?" Harry asked him. 

"What happened to you being 'oh so straight'?"

"What happened to you being straight?" Harry countered. 

"I never said I was. And if me shoving my tongue down your throat doesn't convince you that I'm not then I don't know what to tell you, Potter." 

"I don't know, maybe you should try it again. See if I'll believe you after that." 

Malfoy smirked. He leaned down and kissed him again slowly. He paused, and Harry was confused until he realized that his phone was ringing.

"Oh, shit!" He grabbed his phone with his free hand. He held it up behind Malfoy's head to see who it was. 

"It's Ron," he said. "I was supposed to be back at his house almost twenty minutes ago."

"Well, you're already late, so what's another half an hour?" Malfoy started kissing his neck, moving his way upwards slowly.

"Malfoy," said Harry. His eyes fluttered slightly. 

Malfoy ignored him. He had reached his jaw. 

"Malfoy," Harry said urgently. 

"That's not my name," Malfoy answered in between kisses. 

His phone stopped ringing. His screen lit up as Ron's text arrived. He really needed to go...

"Draco." Harry squeezed his eyes shut. 

"That's better," Malfoy whispered, his lips just brushing Harry's. He rolled off of Harry and onto his feet smoothly. 

As Harry picked up his slightly crumpled uniform, Malfoy asked, "So does this mean you're not moving out?"

Harry whirled around to face him. "Are you goingt to get rid of your stupid rules?" 

"Why don't you move back in first and then you can find out?" 

Harry responded by giving Malfoy a nice view of his middle finger as he walked out the door. 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized this a while after posting this chapter but their Christmas break is two weeks before the actual Christmas day and Harry needs his uniform because they practice and scrimmage with it and he has some practice during his break


	4. Bruises and Broken Hearts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: physical abuse around the middle of the chapter and slight biphobia

 

The second Harry finished telling his story, a grin tugging at his lips, Hermione backhanded him across the face. 

"Ow! What the hell, Hermione?" He cried. 

"My turn!" Ron said, jumping up from his seat. Hermione shot her boyfriend a death glare, and he sat down in shame. 

"What was that for?" Harry rubbed his cheek. He knew that would leave a mark later. "Is it because I kissed Malfoy?"

"Yes and no."

"Thanks for clearing that up, love," mumbled Ron. 

"Harry, I don't really give a damn about what you did today," Hermione said, "but aren't you forgetting something important? Or better said, _someone_?" 

"Harry hasn't even told Mom he was going to move in so it won't crush her soul or anything," Ron interjected. 

"I'm not talking about your mother," Hermione snapped. "I meant Cho. Your _girlfriend_ who you're in a _committed_ relationship with."

Harry narrowed his eyes in confusion before they widened as realization dawned on him. 

"I cheated on her," he said shakily. 

"But does it really count as cheating if it's only one kiss?" asked Ron. Harry tried to subtly shake his head at him to get him to shut the hell up. Hermione was starting to look a bit livid.

"So if I go and 'just kiss' that guy right over there..." Hermione said in a low voice, her fingers making quotation marks.

Ron looked out the window of the Java Lava at the handsome stranger Hermione was indicating. "Point taken."

Harry ran his hands through his already unruly curls. "Do I tell her? Do I breakup with her?"

Hermione muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Men are so bloody clueless". 

Harry held his hands up. "What? I've never done this before, so of course I'm asking for your help!"

"You're obviously going to tell her, Harry." 

Harry's stomach felt like it was folding up on itself. Sure, he and Cho were in a not so good stage right now, but he felt so guilty that he had somehow managed to forget they were even dating in the first place. He kept imagining her face when she told him: her eyes wide and heartbroken, tears making lines on her face as her makeup ran down her chin and neck, mascara making her eyes raccoon like. 

Ron could clearly see the anguish on his bestfriend's face. He turned to Hermione and said, "Does he have to?" 

"Yes, Ronald," she barked at him. "I know that we don't like her all that much and you guys aren't doing so hot but that does not mean you get to lie to her about something like this. Cheating is already bad, but concealing it is ten times worse. It would be a different story if Malfoy kissed you and it didn't mean anything to either of you, but since you both clearly have feelings for each other, you have to tell her." 

"So what?" Ron queried. "Harry just tells Cho and just drops the subject because he was honest with her?" 

"Fat chance," said Harry. "She'll probably push me off her roof."

"I'm not saying she'll drop it and everything will be fine," Hermione explained, "but Harry can't keep this from her." 

Harry sometimes hated that Hermione always had a point. Really, where he and Ron would be without her....

Harry leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. After a few moments he said, "What do I do after I tell her?"

"Ditch her," suggested Ron. "The universe has handed you the perfect excuse. Right on a silver platter."

"I think it is for the best," Hermione agreed. "You're moving back into your dorm, and I'm not saying you have no self control so don't bite my head off, but can you promise her you won't do it again?"

Harry thought back to how electrifying his and Malfoy's kiss was just two days ago. His lips still tingled. He shook his head. "I can't do that to her."

Hermione nodded stiffly. Ron asked when Harry was going to do it. 

He shrugged. "She's in England or something visiting her family so she won't be back until after Christmas."

"Can't you just text her?" Ron inquired. Hermione swatted his knee.

"Hey, don't hit me!"

"Don't ask stupid questions, then."

"It's the next logical thing he can do."

"You can't tell somebody something like this over text! Honestly, Ron."

"Well, he isn't gonna bloody walk to Britain is he? Although, that would make one hell of a gesture." 

"You're lucky I love you," Hermione grumbled. 

 

***

 

Harry swallowed hard. He felt like his mouth was full of sawdust and he was wringing his hands as he made his way up the Chang's long driveway. Cho and her family had arrived yesterday from London, and he had asked her to tell him when she was alone at home just in case things got messy.

He had probably given her the wrong impression seeing as she had sent him a seductive winking face at the end of her message.

He rang the doorbell, and the heavy curtains were pulled back right before the door opened.

"Harry!" She cried. She almost literally jumped into his arms, her left leg wrapping around his right. 

"I've missed you," she whispered in his ear. 

Harry choked out, "Me too." 

They untangled themselves (or better said, Harry peeled Cho off of him), and Harry asked if they could go up to her room. She grabbed his hand and walking in front of him up the stairs and inside her bedroom. Being the only child, it was enourmous and she had numerous pricey possessions shown off on the walls and her vanity. Her suitcase was still half unpacked, open on one of her desk chairs. 

Cho fit her hand behind Harry's head and kissed him. She used her other hand to guide Harry's over her butt and to her thigh. "So, my parents won't be home for another two hours, which gives us plenty of time to-"

"-actually," He cut in, "can we talk for a bit?" 

Her face and composure deflated. "Oh. Um, sure." And she sat down on her bed, Harry doing the same.

They sat in silence. Harry was trying to gather up his courage to try and explain to her that she hadn't done anything wrong at all, that it was all him, when she asked, "Harry, is everything alright? You look a bit uneasy." 

His eyes snapped up to meet her worried brown ones. "Yeah, I'm just...I guess I'll just say it."

"Say what?"

Harry took a deep breath. "About week or so ago, I sort of...cheated on you. It wasn't...I didn't have sex with anyone but I...I kind of kissed someone else."

Cho pressed her lips together as she fiddled with her thumbs in her lap. "Was it Hermione? Or Ron's sister?"

Harry shook his head. "God, no. It was...a man." 

Even though Cho knrw he was bisexual befkre they started dating, he still got nervous acknowledging it out loud around her. 

Cho laughed sarcastically. While she was taking it better than Harry had expected, it was how calm she was that made Harry crap his pants. 

"Marietta warned me," she said. "She told me to never trust somebody who is bisexual in a relationship. They always end up cheating."

"What the fuck?" Harry said, thrown off by her comment. "When did Marietta say this?" 

"Around the time you told me you liked men as well as women. I told her she was being ridiculous then, but now, after telling me this, I've realized she's right. Bisexuals are always cheaters." She shook her head. "Shit, I should have broken up with you sooner. I should have worried more about you living with a man. Made you move out and into your own place sooner."

"Well, now you don't have to worry about me anymore," Harry said hotly. "I didn't just come here to confess; I came to tell you we're through." 

Cho reached out lightnjng fast and punched him squarely in the jaw. Harry gingerly touched the sore spot. He stared at her in bewilderment. She had never been this violent before. 

"You can't just show up to my house and dump me for your little side piece," Cho seethed. Her nostrils had flared. 

"Cho," Harry said, trying to reason with her. All he got was another punch, this time to the temple. 

"Shut up! I'm talking right now, not you!" Cho scooted closer to him, and Harry scooted back until his backside hit the end of her four poster bed. 

"This relationship ends when _I_ say it ends," she said. "Not you, Harry. Me. So you can take your break up speech and shove it up your ass."

"This isn't how relationships work!" Harry stood quickly and attmepted to leave her room, but Cho hurled her portable phone charger at him. It missed him by inches, but it managed to scare him enough into staying. 

"I didn't give you permission to leave!" She screeched. 

"I don't need your fucking permission! I'm an adult and you can't control me like this!" 

Cho screamed and hurled a plastic bottle of perfume at his chest. It hit him just as she threw another at his head. It broke open on the floor, several feet of fuzzy white carpet staining deepest purple. 

"Cho, stop!" Harry held his hands up in front of his face to protect it from more incoming projectiles. 

Cho lowered her arms and gave him an expression of pity that you give to people on the streets. "Your actions have consequences, Harry. I don't like doing this, but if you pull something like this again, you'll leave me no choice."

Harry rubbed his knuckles over the side of his head. "I think I should leave."

"Yes, you should," agreed Cho. She waved her hand to shoo him away. "Look at the floor. I have to clean up the mess I made because of you." 

 

***

 

After a quick visit to the ER to make sure Cho hadn't given him a mild concussion, Harry drove back to Ron's house. His head was throbbing from both the blows and Cho's sudden fit of rage.

But most of all, he was still hurt by her "all bisexuals cheat and cannot be trusted" view point. Sure, he'd heard stories of people with homophobic friends and family members who had that same mindset, but it didn't really wrap around his mind how upsetting it was until he experienced it himself. What complete and utter bullshit that was. Who the hell was Marietta Edgecombe to judge him based on his romantic preferences? 

As Ron opened the door he said, "Did you have that bruise when you left?" 

Harry groaned. "It bruised already?"

Ron ushered him inside the living room. Hermione had spent the night and was now sitting in the armchair by the window, a well-worn book on her lap. Ginny was typing her essay next to her.

She looked up at him and smiled warmly until she saw the supposed bruises on his face. 

"Christ, Harry, what happened?" She asked. 

"Is it that bad?" He shut his eyes suddenly as Ginny pulled out her phone and snapped a close up photo of his face with the flash on. She turned the screen so Harry could see. 

Cho was a pretty good puncher. His temple was purple and blue, while his jaw was more red and navy. 

"That explains the throbbing," He said. 

"Throbbing? Bruises?" Hermione had turned her attention off her book and onto Harry. "Did you get into a fist fight on your way to Cho's or something?" 

"I woukd have preffered the fist fight, to be honest. Cho just....attacked me. I told her we were through and that I had cheated on her. She said some pretty ugly things and then she got violent. Threw fragrance bottles and phone chargers at me." 

"Did she hit you? Like with her fists?" Ginny was turning his head from side to side, careful not to touch the bruises on accident. 

"Yeah. I've never seen her like this before. She never got physical during our other fights. She just...snapped." 

Ron snorted. "You mean you got beat up by a _girl_? Like...a super girly-girl? You could have fought her off effortlessly!" 

Hermione made a sound of displeasure. "Ronald, you're masculinity is toxic sometimes." 

"And if you say that again you'll get beat up by a girl," added Ginny. "And I mean mom, not me."

Ron's ears went scarlet. 

"Harry, you have to report this," said Hermione. "She can't do that to you. I'm pretty sure this is considered assault."

"I'm not going to file a police report over this," Harry said. "I got checked out and I don't have a concussion or internal bleeding." 

"Injured or not injured, we can't let her get away with this!" cried Ginny. 

"Yeah, Harry, she didn't have the right to hit you over something petty like a break up."

"Guys!" Harry shouted. "It's my choice. And I say we don't go to the police. For now," he added as both girls were about to protest. "This is barely the first time it's happened. She probably just had a rough day or something."

"Speaking of rough day," Ron interjected, "did you manage to dump her?"

Harry shook his head. "That's when she started swinging and yelling. She said the relationship wasn't over until she said so."

"But what are you going to do about Malfoy?" asked Hermione. 

Harry shrugged. "I guess we'll just see where this goes. I'm not planning on telling Cho about him. She still knows where my dorm is. Don't want her to go all psycho on him too."

"You two are so fucked up," Ron stated. "One's a mood-swinging lunatic and the other has a mistress. Well, a 'manstress'." 

"Malfoy isn't my mistress," Harry remarked. "And it doesn't matter if it's considered cheating; I told her we were done so we are technically done. If me and Malfoy do start dating, she can't do anything about it. The fact that she doesn't want to accept that and decided to control me is a whole different level." 

Ron bumped Harry's shoulder good-naturedly. "I'll be praying for you, mate."

 

***

 

About two weeks or so after New Years, the Spring Semester was in full swing. The weather was finally warm enough to ditch puffy jackets and boiling hot showers, but Harry hadn't needed any of those to maintain warm all break. His giddiness and excitement were doing that just fine. 

He hadn't seen Malfoy in weeks. They hadn't exactly been on exchanging numbers terms before the semester ended, so he had no way to communicate with him until they moved back in together. He wondered hoe things would be after that last night. 

Harry was so nervous he thought his hair would fall out from all the hours he spent messing with it. 

Students living in dorms were required to move in at least two days before the semester began. Harry felt a bit dissapointed when Malfoy was absent when he arrived. He glumly taped posters and organized the mini-fridge and medicine cabinet for a good portion of the night. 

The day before term officially started, Harry walked in to their dorm, sweaty and sore from soccer practice, and found Draco Malfoy laying on his bed. His back was facing Harry. He was making his way over to see if he was awake when Malfoy suddenly said, "If you're going to kiss me, take a shower first." 

The words "Only if you join me" were on the tip of Harry's tongue but he swallowed them nervously. He didn't want to somehow screw whatever this was up.

He stripped, washed, and rinsed in record time, and when he stepped out of the bathroom, Malfoy was still in his bed, but this time he was facing Harry. 

He grinned. "Were you waiting for me?"

Malfoy replied, "No," but the heat rising from his neck to his cheeks said differently. 

Harry crawled onto the bed on his hands and knees and kissed the other man, soft and sweet. It was nothing fancy: no tongue or teasing bites, but it still made his head swim when he pulled away. 

Malfoy lightly touched Harry's bruised spots. "Soccer injury?" He asked. 

Harry nodded, the guilt from lying rising like bile in his throat. He swallowed it thickly and said, "Want to kiss them better for me?" 

"You're so fucking cliché," Malfoy said, but he did it anyways. 

"If you say you have one on your mouth or your penis, I won't kiss you for a whole twenty-four hours," Malfoy said. 

Harry shut his mouth immediately. And then he put it to good use and kissed Malfoy hungrily. 

Malfoy responded back with equal passion, his tongue wrestling Harry's and sneaking in the occasional soft bite on Harry's bottom lip. 

Once they had finally unglued thier lips from each other's, they took a breather and relaxed. Harry's head rested on Malfoy's chest, rising ever so slightly with every inhale. His fingers were doodling abstract patterns on Malfoy's thigh. 

"You're gonna get my shirt all wet," Malfoy complained. 

"I can make your pants wet, if you'd prefer that," Harry responded. 

"What a charmer you are." Malfoy lifted Harry's chin and kissed him once. 

"We should probably talk about this," Harry suggested as he positioned his head back where it was before. 

Malfoy stayed quiet. Harry thought he had fallen asleep until he said, "Are you still seeing that girl? Cho Chang or whatever?" 

"I broke up with her ages ago," Harry said. "She refused to accept it and probably thinks we're still together, but we aren't." He looked up at Malfoy, his vision blurring. "Are you...you know?"

"No, I'm not currently seeing anyone," answered Malfoy. "I am interested in this one person, though. Somehow an athlete and a nerd at the same time, and he can be a pain in the ass without even trying. He's also got atrocious curly hair and huge glasses."

Harry shoved Malfoy's shoulder gently. "Stop it. I'm not that bad." 

Malfoy shrugged. "So, you want to be exclusive?"

"Like just you and me?"

"Yes, Harry, that is what exclusive means." 

Harry's heart felt like he missed a step going down the stairs. Just hearing Malfoy- no, Draco, say his first name made his hair stand on end. 

"Shut up," he said. "And yes, I do want to be exclusive." 

"Ask me the right way," Draco demanded. 

Harry rolled his eyes jokingly. "My God, you're dramatic." 

"I'm waiting." Draco made _tsk tsk_ noises with his tongue, only smiling slightly. 

Harry sighed. "Draco Malfoy, would you do me a great honor and accept my invitation of being in a relationship with me?" 

"So if I say yes, and that's a strong _if_ ," said Draco just a bit sarcastically, "you'll be my..." he trailed off, evidently waiting for Harry to finish the sentence. 

"Boyfriend." Harry's cheeks cooked. 

"And that will make me...."

"My boyfriend." Seriously, Draco could fry an egg on Harry's left cheek. 

Draco smirked, sat up, and grabbed his phone. As he typed away, Harry slid up to peek. "What are you doing?" 

"Just marking this in my calendar," said Draco offhandedly. "So I can remember to celebrate our one week anniversary next Wednesday." 

Harry chortled slightly as he pressed his lips to Draco's. "My God, you _are_ the worst." 

"You're the one dating me, so by default that makes you 'The Worst' as well." 

Harry lifted his hand to flip his boyfriend the bird, and his heart melted like a popsicle when Draco grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together. 

 

***

 

 


	5. Private Displays of Affection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning: physical abuse

 

During the next handful of weeks, Harry often found himself wishing that Cho Chang wasn't so envious and manipulative. Then he'd be able to hold his boyfriend's hand in public and not worry about her flying out of nowhere and slapping him into next month. 

He had told Draco about Cho's hissy fit when he had broken the news to her. He didn't tell him that his "soccer bruises" were really from Cho. He didn't need Draco worrying about him. All he had said was that they should be careful just in case she attacked them. 

Draco and Harry had fallen into a kind of routine every day after school. Whoever got home first would always have food waiting for the other. They would sit and eat, talk, maybe do some homework, and make out. Mostly the latter. Whenever they had any free time at all, they spent it with each other. 

And of course, Cho was forcing Harry to spend time with her, so that freetime was a bit limited. But Harry would go along with it in order to avoid beatings. Draco, Ron, and Hermione asked him why he continued to play along. Harry said it was in case she threatened to do something drastic or like try and ruin his life. He was already walking on eggshells as he tried not to bring up any touchy subjects (he was pretty much limited to talking about what he thought about her new wedges or how nice the place they were eating at was). 

Draco would scoff and roll his eyes whenever Cho requested his prescence. 

"What?" Harry asked him one afternoon as he was putting on his jacket. 

"I don't like sharing what's mine," muttered Draco. 

Harry smiled smugly. "Someone's jealous." 

"Repeat that slander again and you'll be hearing from my lawyers." Draco chucked Harry his phone. "Text me during dinner with your girlfriend so I won't be bored _allllllll niiiiiiiiiight_ without you."

"She's not my girlfriend; you are," Harry corrected. He bent down and kissed Draco. He started to pull away but Draco pulled him back. 

"I'm gonna be late," Harry complained half-heartedly. 

"Then be late," responded Draco. 

"I can't be late," Harry fibbed. "The sooner I get there and suffer through dinner, the sooner I can come back here." 

He wasn't completely lying. He did want to get this stupid dinner over with so he could spend time with Draco. But Cho had made it explicitly clear that Harry wasn't allowed to be late. It would be "disasterous for him" apparently. 

Luckily, he arrived almost ten minutes early (Bless the god of traffic and red lights). Harry, not being very rich, had never been there before, and guessing by the French name, it was incredibly expensive. He hoped Cho didn't ask him to pay. 

"Do you have a reservation or are you here with somebody?" asked the male behind a small desk as Harry walked inside. 

"Reservation," Harry said.

"Name?"

"Try Chang."

The man looked down a list and nodded. "Chang, table for two. Follow me, please." 

Harry followed him to their table. Menus were placed in front of both chairs, and there was a lovely white vase in the center. 

"Your waiter will be here shortly," said the host as he walked off. 

Harry had barely skimmed the appetizers when Cho arrived. She looked quite nice in a red dress and matching heels. She nodded approvingly at Harry like she had expected him to be late. Or hoped. 

They didn't talk much, and Harry was starting to suspect that she had only done this to ensure that he wasn't spending time with somebody who wasn't her or Ron or Hermione. 

Once the most awkward dinner of his life (and that included every high school soccer banquet he had attended) Cho payed and tipped the waiter generously and asked if Harry would walk her to her car. He accepted nervously. She was up to something. 

Once they reached her silver Lexus, she turned and whispered in his ear, "I'm not wearing anything under this. Come home with me. My parents are out for a couple more hours." 

The thought of sex with Cho nauseated Harry after she had shown him her true colors. He shook his head vigorously. 

"Not tonight," he said. 

 _Or ever again,_ he thought. 

Cho narrowed her eyes. "I don't think you heard me, Harry. I said come home with me."

"I heard you perfectly fine," Harry snapped. "I'm blind not deaf, but apparently you are because I said no." 

Cho slapped him across the face. Fire raged inside her eyes. "Don't. Talk. To me. That. Way." 

Harry knew what was coming but he didn't care. "I will talk to you whatever way I want. You don't control me, Cho. We aren't together anymore and you have to stop forcing me to do things for you." 

Cho smiled softly. She turned away, then whipped around suddenly and punched Harry square in the jaw. He felt something cold and hard hit him near his chin. He reached up and felt and slight, round indentation and realised she must have punched him with her ring hand. 

"Cho," Harry said, trying to reason with her. 

"Shut the hell up," she said. "If you don't want a black eye or a broken nose you should shut up right now." She exhaled loudly. "You know what? I'm not in the mood anymore. I'm going home, and you better hope I'm not still mad when I wake up tomorrow." She opened her car door, and Harry stepped to the side as she sped away. 

Harry got in his car and turned on his phone's flashlight. He exmained his face in the rearview mirror. 

"Fuck," he whispered. His jaw was turning a light shade of purple. Her could see Cho's dainty fingers in red near his nose. 

He banged his head on the steering wheel. He couldn't go back to the dorms like this. Draco would ask questions, and Harry cared too much about him to involve him in all his problems. 

He made up his mind, backed out of the parking lot, and got on the freeway. There was somebody he needed to talk to before going back to his dorms. 

 

***

 

"Darling, Harry's here to see you!" Mrs. Granger called into the living room as she swung open the door. 

"Thanks, he said. He kept his head low so she wouldn't make a fuss over his beat up face. 

Harry stood in the entrance hall and waited for Hermione to come to him. When she did, he lifted his head and she frowned. 

"Again? Are you fucking kidding me?" She gripped his wrist rather tightly and led him to her room. 

Harry always loved her room; it really reflected her personality. Her desk was always piled with books for both recreational and academic reading, everything was perfectly neat and tidy, and instead of a phone charger next to her bed there was a lamp and a well worn copy of her favorite book. 

He sat down on her bed, and she kneeled in front of him, her head at an upwards angle to examine him. 

"Why did she do it this time?" she asked softly. 

"She wanted to have sex and I didn't."

"Did she try to r-" 

"No, we were still in the parking lot." Harry looked up at the ceiling. "I yelled at her and said she doesn't control me. She got angry and just...went off on me."

"I'm surprised she didn't throw you into the street and run you over."

"She wouldn't want blood all over her nice white tires. She would probably just throw me in the trunk and wait until I die."

"That's not funny," Hermione said. Her voice was shaky, and her eyes were rimmed with red. 

"Oh, hey," Harry backpedaled. "I'm-I'm sorry. I didn't mean it." He reached down and hugged her. 

"Harry, these beating are getting worse and more frequent," she said. "I'm just terrified that she might lose control and...and she might actually kill you one day. Whether by accident or intentionally." 

"She won't, Hermione," Harry reassured her. "Trust me."

"How can you be so sure?" Hermione asked hysterically. "Look what she's done to you already! It seems like she's hitting you everytime you go and see her. And-and what happens if she finds out about Draco and she-she does something to you and him?" She was crying now; Harry could feel his hoodie getting wet. 

"Hermione, listen to me. Me and Draco are going to be fine. She won't hurt me or him. I promise you."

Hermione sniffled. "It's Draco and I," she corrected. 

Harry smiled as she wiped her face. "Do you have any spare face makeup I could borrow?"

Hermione wrinkled her eyebrows. "You...do you mean foundation?" 

Harry nodded. "Yeah, that. I need to use some."

"You're maybe two shades darker than me so I'll have to mix it with my mom's probably..." she trailed off at Harry's blank expression. "Um, anyways, how much do you need?" 

"However much it takes to keep this covered up until it fades away," Harry explained. 

"You should just tell Draco about it. He'll understand, I'm sure he will-"

"-I'm not going to tell him, Hermione."

"Why not? Because you think he'll see you as weak or something because Cho is a girl? Because you don't need his pity? Because-"

"-Because I don't want him to go fucking confront her or something and she finds out about us and he gets hurt because of me! I...I care about him too much to drag him into my problems." 

Hermione stayed quiet, her back to him as she rummaged around to find her foundation. Finally she said, "You...do you...love him?" 

"Draco?" Harry pressed his lips together in a straight line. "I'm not sure." 

And he wasn't. Sometimes when he and Draco were hanging out, Harry would look over at him and just smile. He would feel so complete and happier than he had felt in a long time. But then he'd count how many weeks/months they had been together and he felt like it couldn't be love; it was much too soon. And he didn't want to tell Draco and have him not say it back. He would have been mortified and heartbroken. 

"Harry!" Hermione's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. By her tone, he knew that she had been saying his name for a while. 

"Sorry, what?"

"Let's go to the bathroom so I can put this on you." Hermione motioned him into her bathroom, and Harry went and sat on the toilet lid. 

Hermione applied some to the back of her hand and started applying it with a pink egg looking sponge. 

"I'm giving you what's left of this bottle," Hermione said. "It should last you until the end of this month, maybe the beginning of April."

"Thanks a million, Hermione."

"On one condition: the next time she hits you, you tell Draco. Or I report her to the authorities and he will find out that way. I don't know about you, but I would prefer it if he found out from you."

Harry sighed. "Don't move," said Hermione. 

Harry obeyed her, and he said, "Fine, I'll tell Draco." 

"Here." Hermione handed him the glass bottle. "You don't need too much, and I'll even give you one of my least favorite brushes so that you can use it." 

"I know I've said this over a billion times, but you're the best, Hermione. Seriously, what would I do without you?"

"Crash and burn," Hermione said simply. "Both you and Ron." 

 

 

 

 


	6. Blackout

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit shorter than normal sorry  
> Also trigger warning: abuse

 

"You have to do something about _her,"_ Draco whined to Harry. He was pulling his button up shirt back on grumpily as Harry searched the floor for his underwear and pants. 

"Don't worry," said Harry. "As soon as I come back I'll screw you into next year."

"You better keep that promise." Draco walked with Harry to the door (he really was dramatic seeing as it was only about thirty feet or so) and opened the door for his boyfriend. 

"I will, don't worry." Harry kissed him. He wished he could stay and do it for hours. "I'll be back in an hour."

Harry got in his car and, very ticked off with Cho Chang, drove at a (slightly) illegal speed to her house. He was gonna tear her a new one if she was dragging him to another posh dinner place.

He rang the doorbell, and his phone _pinged!_ as he received a text. It was Cho. It read:

 

_It's open. Come right up to my room ;))_

 

Harry rolled his eyes up to the heavens. If he wasn't so scared of what she would do to him, he would get his ass back in his car and drive back home. 

But alas, he went inside and up the stairs to her room. 

Harry's eyes watered slightly as he opened the door. And suddenly he wished he didn't have any eyeballs at all. 

The lights were off and the only source was from the bajillion candles Cho had lit and set up all around the room. Rose petals of pink and red were everywhere, and Cho was laying in her bed in scandalous black lingerie. A bottle of chilled champagne sat in a bucket near the bed. His nose was overpowered by the smell of rose petals, jasmine, and lilies. 

"Um," was all Harry could say. 

"Since you weren't very keen on joining me the other night," said Cho, "I thought this might change your mind." She gestured to the room around her and then ran her hand down her pale thigh. 

"This makes me not want to have sex with you even more," Harry said truthfully. 

Cho tilted her head. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't ask if you wanted to. I'm ordering you to. And you have to obey me. I am your girlfriend, after all."

"No, you are not. We've been broken up for months now! When will you get it in your head that I am not interested in you anymore?"

"If you aren't interested in me then why have you agreed to go out on all these dates with me?" She raised her eyebrows triumphantly. Harry wished he could burn them off her face. 

"I only agreed because I'm scared of you! I'm scared that you'll-you'll kick the crap out of me or go after the people I care about!"

"Harry, I would never do that to you."

"Really?" Harry rubbed his chin to get the makeup off his face to showcase his most recent bruises. "You've been beating me bloody ever since I dumped you! I say or do one wrong thing and you start throwing hands."

"I have told you time and time again, your actions have consequences. The severity of them depends on what you've done wrong." 

"I haven't done anything wrong!" Harry was going to shout himself hoarse. 

"Don't you raise your voice at me!" Cho shouted hypocritically. She was sitting up now, arms folded across her chest. "I am your girlfriend and you will respect me!"

"You are _not_ my girlfriend! I'm seeing somebody else! Why can't you understand that?"

Cho picked up a candle and turned it in her hands. "You're _what_?" 

"I've been seeing somebody else for months now, Cho."

Cho blew out the flame, and the room got a bit darker. Harry fekt beads of nervous sweat trickle down his neck. Why did he bring Draco into this? 

"You mean to tell me," Cho said in a low, menacing voice as she lept off the bed and stalked towards him, "that you've been cheating on me for months?" 

"For the last bloody time, I have not been cheating on you because we aren't together!" Harry stepped back and felt a candle and the glass holder smash into pieces underneath his shoe. "I only cheated on you once, and it was only a kiss-"

Cho let out a scream and threw the candle at Harry. He raised his arms, and felt a sting as glass cut into his skin as it broke against his skin. 

Harry glanced up at her, terrified, as she grabbed a curling iron and flung it at him. Her hair was wild and her eyes were blazing like a wildfire. 

"Cheated on me?! Harry James Potter, you will pay dearly for that!" 

The last thing he remembered was Cho grabbing her heavy physics textbook and swinging it at Harry multiple times. He was falling, falling, falling to the soft ground. His head pounded hard, and blood trickled onto the carpet. 

And then everything

Went

Pitch

Black.

 

***

 

Hermione's phone vibrated in her jean pocket, and she knew it was Harry by the pattern. 

"Hey, Harry."

"Is this Hermione Granger?" said a woman's voice. She sounded shaky. Hermione could hear a siren in the background.

"Yes, who is this?" she asked with concern.

"This is Madame Chang, Cho's mother."

Hermione's first thought was that only people who thought they were incredibly important introduced themselves that way. Her second was "Why is she calling me from Harry's phone?"

"I don't mean to be rude, but why are you calling me?" she inquired.

"I'll explain to you a bit better when I've stopped driving. Harry has been injured horribly, and you were his most recent phone call so I figured you should know that he's on his way to Saint Mungo's Medical Center."

Hermione felt as if somebody had pulled the world out from under her feet. Harry was injured? And on his way to Saint Mungo's?

"What's happened to him?" Hermione asked, her voice panicky. 

"We don't know, dear. We'll meet up with you there and fill you in." And Mrs. (sorry, _Madame_ ) Chang hung up. 

Hermione dropped her phone. She was positive it cracked upon impact with the hardwood floor, but at the moment her mind was elsewhere. 

Harry was in trouble, and seeing as how Cho Chang's mother had called her, it had something to do with her. 

Her fingers shaking as she leaned down to grab her phone, she dialed Ron's number. Tears splashed down her cheeks and chin. 

"What's up, 'Mione?" 

"Ron," croaked Hermione. She pressed her lips together to stop herself from outright sobbing.

"Oh, my fuck, are you okay? You're crying."

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" She put Ron on speaker and proceeded to run around looking for her overnight bag. Thank God Luna wasn't here to see her like this. 

"Then why are you screaming and throwing things?"

"It's H-Harry! Cho's mother called me on his phone and said they're on their way to S-saint Mungo's with him! I don't know what's wrong but I'm-I'm just so worried!"

She threw two spare changes of clothes and retrieved some toiletries from the bathroom and zipped up her bag. She left Luna a handwritten note taped on the doorway explaining where she was before getting in her car and preparing to drive to Ron's. 

"What do you mean Harry's in the fucking hospital?" 

"I don't know!" Hermione cried. "She just told me where he's been taken!"

"I'm on my way to you!"

"No, don't. I'm already driving to you. I'll be there in ten. I love you."

"I love you, too." 

 

***

 

The pair practically ran through the double doors of Saint Mungo's Medical Center. They raced to the front desk, and the welcome lady looked up at them in shock. 

"May I help you?" Her name badge read  _Hannah Abbot._

"We are looking for our friend," Ron said, winded. "His name is Harry Potter."

"He was admitted maybe twenty minutes ago," added Hermione as she checked the clock behind her head. 

Hannah Abbot scrolled with her mouse and nodded. "Yes, he's on floor three. Room number fourty-four." She handed them both laminated passes that said  **VISITORS.**

Hermione and Ron placed them round their throats and walked a bit calmer towards the elevator. Ron frantically pressed the three button while Hermione cried quietly. 

Ron took notice and placed his arm around her shoulders. "I'm sure he's fine," he reassured her. 

Hermione sniffled quite noisily. "Floor three isn't where people who are fine go, Ron."

The metallic door slid open, and they followed the signs to room fourty-four. The Changs were sitting in straight backed chairs just underneath a sign about proper handwashing. 

"You must be Hermione," Madame Chang said. She stood and offered her hand, and Hermione shook. 

"This is Ron, another of Harry's bestfriends," Hermione explained. 

"What's wrong with him?" Ron demanded. The blinds were closed, but Hermione could vaguely hear voices inside the room. 

"The doctors took one look at him and rushed him upstairs and inside the room," explained Cho's father (probably Sir just like his wife). 

"We were at a dinner party for one of our closest friends," added Madame Chang. "We arrived at our house and found the door wide open. Cho's car was gone, so we thought somebody had broken in and stolen her or our possessions.

"So we went inside and made sure everything was still in its place downstairs, then I went up to my daughter's room while my husband did a once over of our bedroom." Madame Chang squeezed her eyes shut. Black smudges from mascara formed around her eyes as they teared up. "And...and he was just lying there. On her floor. There was glass underneath him, and on top of his hair...and blood. There wasn't puddles of it, but it was much more than I've ever seen."

Hermione peered down at Madame Chang's fingers and saw that they were stained in places and under her nails with deepest red dots. She choked back a sob as she realised it was Harry's.

"She yelled at me to come quick," continued Sir Chang as his wife blew her nose on a pink silk handkerchief, "and I ran inside, thinking Cho was hurt. But I found my wife on the floor, shaking Harry by the shoulders. She kept trying to get him to wake up, but he didn't respond."

Hermione broke down into tears once more, and Ron comforted her before he asked, "Is he...is he dead?"

Madame Chang shook her head. "No, dear. I checked for a pulse while my husband called the ambulance. They wheeled him onto a stretcher, and told me the nearest hospital was here. We drove behind them, not in the ambulance." 

"We just don't understand hoe this could have happened," said Sir Chang. 

Hermione was about to go off on him, about to ask him how he could possibly make excuses for his daughter once he knew the monster that she was, when a pretty doctor with dazzling blue eyes opened the door.

"Are any of you this young man's family? Or next of kin?"

The four of them shook their heads. 

"We're his bestfriends," said Ron, "and they're the ones who found him."

The doctor nodded. "I'm Demelza Robins. I've been assigned as Harry's doctor. Normally only family can see him right now, but I'll make an exception for you two." She pointed at Ron and Hermione and ushered them inside quickly. 

Harry's body was limp, and his head was caked in dried blood. There were bandages on his arms, and his eyes were closed, glasses on the table next to him. 

"We removed as much glass as we could find," said Doctor Robins. "I'll do a more thorough revision in a few minutes, but I can answer some questions until then."

"Is he...is he in a c-coma?" queried Hermione.

Doctor Robins nodded solemnly. "I am afraid so. It was brought on by blunt force trauma to the head, and there was some glass and melted candle wax near the nape of his neck." 

Hermione gripped her boyfriend's arm with an iron like grip to keep herself from falling over. "Do you know if he has any brain damage?"

"We can't say for sure until we take him for an MRI," answered Doctor Robins.  

"When will he wake up?" asked Ron.

Doctor Robins swallowed thickly. "That's just the thing, Mr..."

"Ron Weasley. This is Hermione Granger."

"Mr. Weasley," corrected Doctor Robins. "We don't know when or if he will wake up. Only time will tell." 

 

***

 

 

 

 


	7. Coffee and Crying

 

Hermione was jolted awake suddenly by somebody speaking to her. 

"Hermione, did the Changs give you Harry's phone back?"

Hermione nodded stiffly and retrived it from her bag. "Why?"

Ron picked at a strand of loose fabric on his maroon sweater. "I just...I just thought we should tell Malfoy about...about Harry. You know, since they live together."

Hermione's eyes widened in shock. "Oh, my God. It's almost six a.m! What if he wakes up and panics because Harry isn't home?" 

Ron rummaged around in his duffel bag. "I brought my spare charger to use. Well, actually it's Ginny's, but she won't miss it since she keeps stealing Fleur's-"

"-The charger, Ron!"

Ron held up his hands in surrender and handed her the box and cable. Hermione sqautted on the ground and turned on Harry's phone. 

"Okay, it's at twenty-five percent," she breathed, "so I can call Draco first and then charge it." Hermione typed in his passcode and scrolled through his contacts until he found Draco's. 

She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited and waited. Finally, on the fourth ring, he answered. 

"Harry? It's five in the bloody morning! Where are you? I'm still waiting for you to fulfill your promise to me-"

"-Draco, it's me. Hermione."

Ruffling sheets. "Why are you calling me from Harry's phone?"

"I'm at the hospital. Harry got admitted just now and-"

Thud. Hermione guessed that Draco had fallen off his bed and onto the floor. 

"What the fuck? Where, why, how? What's wrong with him? Where is he?"

"Hold on." Hermione walked over to the lady at the front desk. It wasn't Hannah anymore. "Can I have a card? With the address on it?"

She wordlessly handed her a card. 

Hermione read of the address of Saint Mungo's. Draco assured her he would be there as soon as he could. She told him the doctors would bring him up to speed. 

 

***

 

"So there's good news, and there's not so good news," said Doctor Robins. "The good news is there is no internal bleeding or major internal bruising. It's minor, so we aren't too concerned about it."

She sighed deeply. Evidently, this was very troubling for her. "The bad news is, there's a dent in the back of his head from where he was hit. He's in a coma now, yes, but when he wakes up, there might be some permanent consequences in the future." 

"Permanent consequences?" asked Draco. He had arrived, hair messy and damp from the rainstorm. His acid green raincoat was sleek with rain. 

"Are you family? Or a friend?" Doctor Robins asked. 

Draco glanced at Hermione for assistance; she nodded and he said, "I'm Harry's boyfriend." 

"That's neither friend nor family, so the security can't yell at me for letting him in." Dr. Robins flipped through her papers. "I just have a few questions for you three. After examining Mr. Potter, we can obviously tell this was intentional. The beating, yes. The coma was probably accidental. However, we still need any suspects that might have caused this."

"Hold on," Draco intervened. "Beating? Coma?"

"Shit!" Hermione facepalmed. "I forgot to bring you up to speed on Harry. I'm so sorry, Draco."

Dr. Robins checked her watch. "I have to check on another patient. We can continue this later, when I return." 

"Beating?" Draco repeated. He stood to open the door to Harry's room, but Hermione thrust her arm over his lap to keep him down.

"Don't go in," she warned. "They don't like it when you disobey them."

Draco flopped down in defeat. "Just...bring me up to speed."

Ron took a deep breath. "Cho beat him. Again."

"Again?"

Hermione nodded. "Cho's been hitting him for months now. Ever since he tried to break up with her."

"Is that why he kept seeing her even after he dumped her?" A jumble of emotions was building up inside his stomach: anger, fear, sadness.

"Not really. He only pretended they were still together because he wanted to protect you, Draco. He only took those beatings and didn't report it because he knew he wouldn't be taken seriously and he didn't want Cho to hurt you." 

"Well, look where it got him!" Draco stood and walked over to the other side of the hallway. "He's in a fucking coma! Why-why didn't he tell me about of this? I could have helped him!" 

"Draco, please calm down," pleaded Hermione. "Please, Harry was stupid to not report it after the first time it happened, and I was stupid for not telling you, and we were all stupid for not doing something else, but we can't blame Harry. The only one we can blame is Cho."

"Well, she's probably on the run by now," said Ron. "So we have to find her first before we turn her in to the police." 

Hermione shot him a look.

"Well, that's bloody fantastic," muttered Draco. 

The click-click sound of heels against linoleum floor got louder as Dr. Robins came back from her other patient. "Are you done? Or shall I go back?"

Hermione waved her hand. "No, no. We're fine. You were saying?"

"Right. So, are there any suspects? Anybody that has a vendetta against Mr. Potter? Maybe a family member?" 

"It was his ex-girlfriend, Cho Chang," Hermione supplied. 

"And why is she a suspect?"

"Because she's been beating him for months," spat Ron. "Also, he was found inside her house, and she still hasn't come home, so that's all the evidence you need."

Dr. Robins scribbled on her clipboard before asking, "And is there any proof of any previous beatings?"

Hermione winced. "He...he has some bruises on his chin. And another on his jaw, right below his ear."

Draco whipped his head around to face her. "I haven't seen any bruises except the first ones. Which I now realize aren't soccer bruises."

"Please don't be mad at me, or Harry," Hermione whispered. Her eyes were swimming in tears again. "I...I gave him some makeup the last time he was hit. He asked b-because he didn't want you finding out about Cho. He couldn't keep up the soccer lie because the season was over."

Draco mentally kicked himself. How could he have not noticed that his own boyfriend had been wearing makeup for weeks? He was angry again, but this time mostly at himself. Angry at Harry for lying and not reporting Cho, but angry at himself for not figuring it out. And he was angry at Hermione too, for not telling him and helping Harry lie to Draco. 

"We didn't find any bruising earlier, so I'm assuming he's still wearing makeup right now." 

Hermione nodded in confirmation. 

Dr. Robbins glanced at her watch as she wrote this down. "Oh, you guys can go inside now. God knows why the visiting rules are so strict here."

She opened the door for them with her master key, and Draco was the first one inside. 

Draco stopped dead in his tracks when he saw him. His glasses were off. His brown curls and darkish skin added some color against all the flour white pillows and bedsheets he was laying against. He was hooked up to the heart monitor machine but no breathalizer. That was good, right? He wasn't completely dependent on machines. 

His breathing got heavier, and he had to turn and face the other wall. Hermione reached over and held his hand. (He assumed it was her seeing as he didn't think Ron would exactly be thrilled to touch Draco.) 

"Do you need to sit down?" she asked, her voice gentle. 

Draco shook his head. He swallowed the lump of bile rising in his throat. 

"Where did you say those bruises are, again, dear?" asked Dr. Robins. 

Hermione demonstarted on her own face, and Dr. Robins gently rubbed the foundation off of him. Sure enough, she revealed some green and yellow bruises blossoming over his chin and jaw. 

"Oh, my God," whispered Draco. His instestines rolled themselves into a bow. 

"Yes, they do look nasty," confirmed the doctor. 

Hermione turned and noticed the distressed look on Draco's face and suggested they get a coffee in the meantime. 

They took the elevator a couple floors down to the hospital café. They ordered some iced coffee and sat near the back. 

Draco sat with his back slumped over. He bit his plastic straw nervously. 

"Do any of you have classes today?" asked Ron. "I have one at ten." 

Hermione nodded. "Not until the afternoon, though. Although, I did want to study for my exam later, but I suppose I could do that here..." 

Draco studied the dark bags under both their eyes and the way they seemed to be nodding off even after coffee. 

"You both should go home and get some rest," he commanded. "You've been here for too long. I'll stay with Harry; I don't have any lessons today."

Ron looked greatful while Hermione looked worried. "Are you sure you should be alone? Draco, I can stay with you, really." 

Draco shook his head firmly. "No, go. I can handle myself, after all. I'm an adult." 

Hermione sighed reluctantly. "Fine. Just text me if his condition changes. Or if the soctors say anything. Or if you need a break. Or-"

"-Darling," interrupted Ron. He raised his eyebrows at his girlfriend. "Leave him, you're overwhelming him. He'll be fine." 

Hermione blinked. "Okay. I guess Ron and I will be heading out now." They both stood and, hand in hand, exited the hospital. Draco's heartstrings tugged as he yearned to walk down the streets like that with Harry: carefree and in love. 

Draco drained his coffee cup and returned back to Harry's room. Once inside, he pulled up a chair next to his bed and sat there. He swiped his fingers tenderly across the bruises decorating his boyfriend's otherwise attractive face. He studied every inch of his face: his long eyelashes, the hair that curled up around his ears, the way his nose sort of resembled a camel's back with a small bump in the middle. 

Draco studied the tan line on the bridge of his nose from wearing glasses his entire life, the way Harry's lips were slightly puckered as he exhaled, and the small freckle he had right underneath his right sideburn. 

Draco studied all of these and more until a male nurse walked in and told him visiting hours were done. 

 

***

 

"Day three," Draco announced as he looked through the window of Harry's room. Ginny stood on his left, and Ron and Hermione were on his right. 

"His parents said they'd be here around noon," Ron told the group of them. "Still sleeping off the jet lag." 

"I'll leave around half past eleven, then," said Draco. 

"Don't be an idiot," Ginny said. "You're staying here with us and the Potters." 

"I doubt they'll want to see me. I am responsible for their only son being bludgeoned half to death." 

"This isn't anybody's fault but Cho's," snapped Hermione. "What I would do to that bitch if she were here right now..."

"We all would," agreed Ginny. She twirled a strand of tomato colored hair around one finger. "The Changs still don't know where she could be?" 

Ron shook his head. "They put out a BOLO on her here and the next city over. Her car hasn't been spotted, but that could mean her rich ass ditched it and bought a new Rolls Royce." 

"She's probably hiding out at one of their international beach houses," Hermione supplied. 

Draco said, "No, they flagged her passport, and they've been closely watching any privatley owned modes of transportation." 

"She could be hiding in the city?" asked Ginny. "Maybe withdrew some cash for a hotel?"

"The police are trying to freeze her assets like credit cards and such," replied Hermione. "They're watching the house as well. If any of then sneeze, they'll be there with a box of Kleenex." 

"Why are they working so hard on this case?" asked Ron. 

"Madame and Sir Chang probably wrote a pretty little check to one Police Commissioner Fudge so that they would make finding their precious babygirl a priority," spat Draco. 

Before either of them could open their mouths, a woman's voice cried, "Hermione! Ron!"

They all turned towards the source, and a woman who looked like she could pass as Ginny's aunt was speed walking towards them. Behind her, a man who looked exactly like Harry, to the smallest detail, except for his hazel eyes and brown hair color. 

"Lily." Hermione looked shocked. "And James. We-we weren't expecting you for another hour!" 

The woman called Lily smiled brightly at her as they hugged. "We couldn't wait any longer. James wanted to come earlier, but we thought we would give you guys a bit more time with Harry." 

"We've spent a little too much time with Harry," Ginny jested. 

"Ginny!" Lily stepped forward and hugged her too. Draco stayed rooted to the spot awkwardly. "I didn't see you there next to...and who are you?" She asked Draco. 

Draco offered James and Lily his hand to shake. They accepted and he said, "I'm Draco Malfoy. Harry's roommate and...friend."

"Oh, Draco, stop it," sighed Ginny. "You aren't a friend. You're Harry's boyfriend." 

Draco shot her a warning look, and she poked her tongue out at him. 

"Love, Harry's mentioned him a few times," James said to his wife. "He didn't tell us they were dating, however."

Draco clenched his fist protectively. He braced himself for the designated Parents' Talk of Disapproval, but instead what he got was Lily saying, "James, he said he'd broken up with the Chang girl for a man when he was with us for Christmas. I'm assuming you're him?" 

Draco nodded, a bit flattered. "Yes, I am." 

"You're a massive bloody upgrade from Cho," James said.

Draco took it as a compliment. 

"We can tell one of the nurses or the doctor that you are here," Hermione said. "They have crazy strict rules about visitation in this section, so the door's locked right now." 

"We'll wait here with the rest of you guys," James said to her. And Hermione sped off to find Dr. Robins. 

Both James and Lily Potter approached the window. Lily sighed in relief. 

"He doesn't look as bad as we thought," she said. Her voice broke on the word "bad". 

"And he isn't using a breathalizer, so that means he can breathe on his own," noted James. 

They stood pressed together and discussed their son's health while Draco, Ron, and Ginny stayed back a bit. 

Shortly after, Hermione returned with Dr. Robins at her heels. 

"Good Lord, you look extraordinarily like your son," she said upon seeing James. 

James shrugged. "I get that a lot. Now, the door?"

"Yes, of course." She unlocked the door, and the Potters stepped inside. Hermione reached an arm insisde to pull down the blinds.

"Let's give them some space," she said quietly. 

 

***

 

"Day seven," Draco said to himself as he woke up from a lengthy nap in an uncomfortable hospital chair. It was around midnight, and it was his and Ron's duty tonight to stay with Harry. 

Harry was improving as much as one could in a comatose state. He had begun slowly stretching his legs and arms out randomly. Dr. Robbins assured them that it was a good sign. Draco hoped he would be waking up soon. He was with Harry almost everyday, and only left when he had class or when he traded off with somebody. At noon today, he would trade shifts with Hermione, and Ron would trade with Ginny when she got out of highschool at three-thirty. 

They had all started to become restless and impatient (except for Lily and James Potter), often snapping at each other and strangers. They had been spensing too much time at the hospital, but neither of them wanted to leave Harry's beside.

Dr. Robins had informed them that they could spend the night as long as it was only two at a time, and only one of them could be with Harry in the room. Today it was James.

Draco always opted out for sleeping in the hallway. Even thought the chair was less comfortable, he couldn't go inside the room without his throat constricting and tears filling his eyes like bathtubs. 

"Some say the patients can hear you during comas," Dr. Robins had told him. "Maybe if you talk to him, it will help."

Draco seriously doubted he was helping Harry. The only words he could choke out were "I miss you" and "I'll be back soon". 

James and Lily could only take a week off at a time each, and they were spending these last two days at the hospital 24/7. They would talk to whoever was there, mostly Draco since they barely knew him, and Draco enjoyed their company very much. Lily was big on hugging him, and he couldn't remember the last time he was embraced by a mother. His father never shared much physical contact, and his mother had stopped giving him hugs past age thirteen. 

Mrs. Potter reached over and gently grasped Draco's hand. 

"You can take a break if you'd like," she whispered. "Go back to your dorm for a bit. You must be so fed up with this bloody place. I would be." 

And the truth is that Draco was. He missed his silk sheets and pillows. He also needed a proper hot shower. 

Lily must have seen the hesitation written on his face because she assured him that if Harry woke up, she would call him straight away. She used her Mom voice on him.

Draco finally gave in and slept in his dorm that night and the next. He hoped Hermione wouldn't be too mad. 

 

***

 

Day nine.

Harry had begun moving his head a bit whenever there was a loud noise nearby. Dr. Robins said that the doctors were almost positive Harry would wake up. They just didn't know when. 

It was the Potter's last day in the city. They showed up a few hours before their flight was due to say their goodbyes. 

They thanked everyone personally for watching over their son, and that they would fly out ASAP if one of them called about Harry. James made sure that every one of their cellphones' had both his and his wife's phone number on it. 

Lily and James pulled Draco aside at the end. 

"We just wanted to thank you for being so strong during all of this. You're a good man, Draco," said James. He shook Draco's hand and clapped him on the shoulder. 

Lily embraced him and clasped his hands in hers. "I'm proud of Harry for finding somebody like you to watch over him. I know you'll take good care of him."

Draco's cheeks flushed. "Thank you," he said. 

They grinned at him before thanking the group one last time as they headed for the airport. 

Ginny saw him smiling as he joined them again. "They're wonderful people, aren't they?" 

Draco nodded in agreement.

 

***

 

It was Day twelve, and Draco was positive that their blood was eighty percent coffee at this point. Besides the occasional water, it was all they were injesting. Draco was probably imagining it, but whenever tears made it into his mouth, he swore they tasted like coffee creamer. 

Ginny and Draco were on duty today, and they were sitting outside Harry's room. Harry had started moving the fingers in his left hand now. Draco just wished he would wake up already. He missed him dearly.

Draco must have made a pained face. Ginny was resting her hand on his arm. 

"I know it's hard seeing him like this," she sympathized, "but he will wake up. He's improved so much, and Cho was spotted in a grocery store a few days ago. Everything will be fine." 

Draco smiled at her gratefully before returning to his textbook. He had a final coming up, and then his first year of college would be over. 

He wished Harry would be there to celebrate. 

 

***

 

Day fourteen arrived.

Draco was sitting next to Harry. He was holding his hand as he sobbed quietly. He had asked Hermione for a favor: let him have just this visiting hour, the day before his final, with Harry alone. She had shaken her head dissaprovingly at first, as if thinking that he should go to his dormitory and study while somebody else watched Harry, but Draco pleaded and begged, and she finally caved. 

Even though he knew Harry most likely couldn't hear a word he said, Draco still talked to him. He would talk about his day, his classes, and Harry's parents. 

The nurse on duty rapped the door with her knuckles to let Draco know he had one minute left with Harry. 

Draco sighed and planted a soft kiss on Harry's forehead. 

"I love you," he whispered for the first time out loud in his ear. "You still owe me a second go. Don't you _dare_ not wake up."  

 

***

 

On Day Fifteen, Cho Chang was finally arrested and detained by the police. 

She had been staying in a motel in the south part of the city. She had withdrawn a sizeable chunk of money from her second bank account before the bank froze her account. She had been seen leaving her room by an off duty officer. He called his partner and tried to stall her until they arrived. She ran when she saw the sirens, but they cornered her and she surrendered instantly. 

"She confessed to everything," said Ron. He bit his sandwich and swallowed before continuing. "Kept saying some bullshit about how Harry needed to be punished and that she demanded to see him."

"Thank God they didn't let her in," Ginny chimed in. "Orange really isn't her color. Or anything, really."

"Yeah, except Madame Chang has been working her ass off trying to get the charges dropped." Hermione rolled her brown eyes. "Saying something about the facg that Harry's in a coma meant he can't press charges against Cho. One minute she's being super supportive, and then she does a complete one eighty."

"It's pathetic," Draco observed. "The fact that he's _in_ a coma will get her charged with domestic abuse."

"She'll do probation and community service if her father has something to say about it," Hermione said. 

"I hope she moves to fuckkng Mars," voiced Ginny. "That way she doesn't pull something after she's done her time." 

"Those poor Martians," Ron muttered. 

 

***

 

Draco slept in Harry's room on Day Sixteen. It was easjer for him now.

He was holding Harry's hand and would occasionally whisper something to him. Ginny snored lightly in the hallway. 

It was one in the morning. Draco could only hear the other man's breathing and the analog clock ticking and tocking on the wall. 

Draco kissed Harry's knuckles. "I love you," he said in an undertone. He placed his head on Harry's thigh and fell fast asleep. 

 

 

 

 

 


	8. Resolutions

 

Draco could feel something raising and lowering itself slowly underneath his head. He opened his eyes and stared at the beige wall. His nostrils burned with the smell of medicine and rubber. He yawned and lifted his head up. Someone's fingers squeezed his thumb, and he looked up and saw-

"You're awake," Draco stage whispered. For the first time in weeks, he was staring straight into Harry's sea green eyes. They narrowed slightly, and Draco found his glasses and put them on him. Recognition filled his face as he could suddenly see.

"Oh, my God, you're actually awake." Draco's breathing became very rapid. He moved to stand up, but Harry gripped his thumb tighter. Draco tugged lightly, but Harry wouldn't release him. 

"Harry, I'm only going to get Ginny," he said. "She's just outside, I promise. I'll be back."

Harry opened his mouth, but all that came out was incoherent jabbering. 

"Shhh, don't talk yet," Draco shushed him. "Let me go and get Ginny." He rapidly pushed the red call button on the wall right next to Harry's bed. 

Harry still wouldn't let go of his finger. "Fuck it, then." Draco pulled out his phone. "I'll call her." 

Instead of answering the phone, Ginny burst through the door. 

"Why the hell are you calling me?" she demanded to know. "I'm literally right outside the door-"

"-Ginny," Draco said firmly. He gestured to the man holding onto his thumb. 

Ginny opened her eyes wide as her jaw dropped to the floor. She ran to Harry's side. "When did this happen?"

Draco shrugged lightly. "I just woke up and he was staring at me." 

Dr. Robins signature click-clack heels could be heard as she entered the room. 

"You do know you only have to press the button once," she quipped. She looked in between Draco and Ginny and smiled. 

"Ah," she said, nodding, "so that's why you were so frantic. Well, I can examine him right away. You two can stay if you want."

"Ginny, can you call his parents?" asked Draco. "I would, but my boyfriend is being rather clingy at the moment." 

Harry gripped Draco's thumb hard enough for it to feel a tad bit numb.  

Ginny chuckled softly. "You can text Ron and Hermione." And she left the room, phone in hand. 

Draco sat down next to Harry as Dr. Robins shined a light inside his eyeballs, checked his heart and lungs, and did other kinds of medical tests that looked like nonsense to him. 

Draco had many burning questions to ask Dr. Robins but he felt ashamed or that he would be judged. He knew nothing about comas, and he didn't want an expert thinking he was unintelligent.

She must have sensed this, because she closed the door. Draco heard the lock click. 

"I know you probably want to ask me some questions," she started, "and you don't have to be embarassed." 

"How long is he gonna be here?"

"Well, he isn't speaking very well at the moment, and I don't think he'll be walking properly for a couple of days, so I would say about a weak." 

Harry's eyes went back and forth between them like he was watching a tennis match. 

"Anything else you'd like to know?" she asked, both eyebrows raised. 

Draco shook his head. "I'll ask you more when he can talk a bit better."

Dr. Robins nodded and unlocked the door just as Ginny had raised her fist to knock on it. 

"They're on the next flight here," she explained. "Ron had his last class yesterday so he'll be here in half an hour."

Draco nodded. He had texted Hermione as quickly as he could with only one hand free. He also really needed to get some coffee; Harry had chosen the pleasant hour of four in the morning to wake up. 

He kissed Harry's forehead and whispered, "Hey, I'll be back soon. I promise."

Harry nodded in slow motion and released Draco's finger. 

 

***

 

When Draco returned to the hospital room with a cardboard container carrying four iced coffees, he stopped dead in his tracks as he watched the scene before him unfold.

Ginny's long ponytail swung madly behind her head as she yelled and tried to get closer to Cho Chang, her hands stuck out as if to strangle her. Cho was standing closest to Draco, apparently unbothered by the other three people. Hermione was standing in between the two arguing girls, her hands up to keep them apart. Ron was right behind his younger sister, ready to spring in case she threw a punch. Although he looked more interested in seeing the two girls have it out rather than stopping it. 

"...hell _out_ of here!" Ginny was shouting. "He doesn't _want_ to see you, and neither do we!"

"Why don't we ask Harry what he wants?" countered Cho. She stood with her arms crossed, high and mighty as if her trial wasn't in a little over a month. 

"We _can't_ ask Harry what he wants because he can't talk because YOU PUT HIM IN A BLOODY COMA!" 

"Ginny, please, calm down," begged Hermione. "We don't want to cause a scene! We are in a hospital!"

"If she doesn't leave right now I'll make sure she stays in this hospital longer than she planned to!" Ginny surged forward, and Ron lazily grabbed her arm and held her in place.

"You can't stop me from going in there," Cho said defiantly. 

"Try me, bitch!"

"Ginny, people are staring!"

"This will take less than a minute. I only came to see Harry and tell him I forgive him," said Cho. 

" _You_ forgive _him_?" Draco asked. He could not believe his ears. "Excuse my language, but what the _shit_ kind of nonsense is this?"

Cho turned to face him with a look of disdain. "I'm sorry, but who the hell are _you_?"

"I'm Harry's boyfriend," Draco snapped. He stepped closer to Cho. She cowered slightly as the top of her head was barely at his collarbone level. 

"Oh, so you're the man who brainwashed Harry into cheating on me," she said coolly. "Now look where it got him." She bravely looked him up and down, and Draco stood up taller, his blood boiling. 

"I didn't do anything to him; you did. So if it's anyone's fault, it's yours." 

Cho lifted her hand as if to smack him, but Hermione grabbed her wrist and forced her arm down. 

"Touch any of us and I'll call the police and tell them you're violating the restraining order against you," she said in a menacingly low voice. "Now, I suggest you leave if you don't want your wrist fractured."

Cho sniffed and shook her arm out of her grip. She gave them all a nasty look of deepest loathing before storming out of the hallway. 

"I can't believe they granted her bail just because she isn't a flight risk," said Ron. Ginny shook her wrist out of his grip.

"And of course she's loaded enough to pay," added Hermione.

"At least they got a strict restraining order placed on her," Ginny reasoned, reaching for her fancy espresso drink. "Can't be within a hundred feet of Harry."

"Speaking of that, how did she even get in here?" Draco asked as he passed out their drinks. "The hospital staff should know about the restraining order and are obligated to stop her."

"Being the snake she is she probably just slithered through the window and onto the floor," Ron muttered into his plastic straw. 

They all laughed. Dr. Robins stepped out of Harry's room timidly. She must have heard the commotion and was waiting for them to calm down.

"Now that you've all finished screaming and generally causing a disturbance," she said, "you can come in and see him. He still can't speak properly, but he's been saying some words."

They followed her into the room, and Harry was sitting straight up in his bed. 

"Ron," he croaked. His voice was hoarse and scratchy from weeks of being unused. "Hermione." 

"Don't mind me, then," said Ginny. "I only sat 'round your bedside four days out of the week."

Draco elbowed her ribs.

"I'm only joking." She winked at him before walking over to Harry's bedside. 

Harry caught sight of Draco and held up his hand without the heartbeat monitor clipped over his finger. Draco kneeled beside him and held his hand. 

"I'm...sorry," he said to Draco. He then turned to face the others. "I'm sorry...for...not reporting...her. All my fault." 

"Harry, don't apologize," replied Hermione. "This is not your fault. We're all just happy you're okay." 

Harry's speech turned to babbling again, and Dr. Robins said, "He's only been awake a few hours. We don't want to over exert him so you can all come back tomorrow." 

Hermione and Ginny gave Harry a gentle squeeze around the shoulders, Ron said, "See you tomorrow, Harry", and Draco kissed his temple before they went back to their respective houses. 

 

***

 

"I'm sorry I...I lied to you," Harry said to Draco. His eyebrows furrowed nervously. "Are you...mad at...me?"

Draco shook his head. "At first I was. I was mad at you for being so stupid. I was mad that you didn't accept anybody's help. Then I was mad at myself for not noticing any of this. The makeup and the bruises, the look of fear you got whenever Cho would force you on dates. I should have paid better attention to you."

Harry pushed a strand of palest blonde hair behind Draco's ear. It was longer than he was used to seeing, hanging around his chin towards the front, but Harry loved it. He secretly hoped Draco wouldn't cut it off once Harry was discharged from the hospital.

Draco caught Harry's fingers and kissed them lightly before weaving their fingers together. "That doesn't matter anymore. I'm not mad at you anymore, and Hermione told me why you put up with her shit. And I'm a bit flattered, to tell you the truth. But no more secrets, okay? That goes for both of us." 

Harry nodded to show that he agreed, and then puckered his lips slightly to indicate he wanted a kiss.

"Oh, my God, you're so needy," laughed Draco. But he leaned over and kissed him anyways.

"Do me a-a favor," Harry said.

"Anything." 

"Don't cut your...hair," Harry suggested. "Well, you can, just not so...much."

"Well, if my darling boyfriend likes it so much," Draco said sarcastically. He wagged his finger at Harry as he attempted to stand. "Stand and I'll shave it off completely."

Harry sat down lighting fast, and Draco smirked at him.

 

***

 

 

Four days later, Harry officially moved back into his and Draco's dorm. His parents, after staying within ten feet of him at all times at the hospital for days, were helping him and just making sure he was alright. Harry didn't really mind them helicoptering around him, but if his mother said one more thing about medication or Draco, Harry was going to lose his mind.

After Harry had sworn up and down a dozen times that he would follow Dr. Robin's orders verbatim, they said their goodbyes and took a taxi to the airport to return home. 

Harry was lying spread eagle on his striped sheets. It seemed like so long ago that Draco was rolling his eyes at them and calling them cheap and tacky. Now Draco was too busy gripping the sheets as he moaned and groaned to complain much about them. He smiled at the memory of this.

His eyes fluttered. Dr. Robins said, among other symptoms, that Harry would be a bit sleepier than usual for the first few days. He was falling asleep at earlier hours of the day, and he was just about to pass out and take yet another nap when he heard the lock click and the door creak open. He sat up expectantly.

It was Draco Malfoy. His face lit up like a torch when he saw Harry. 

"I thought you weren't coming back until tomorrow," he said. He shrugged off his light coat and hung it. 

"You sound disappointed," said Harry. He smiled and lurched forward to kiss that stupid (but incredibly hot) smirk off his boyfriend's face before he could make a snappy retort. 

It wasn't long before they were horizontal, their legs dangling off the edge of the bed. Harry was lifting up the bottom of Draco's shirt until Draco pulled it back down as he gently nibbled his lower lip.  

"Easy there, Harry," Draco said in a hushed voice. The corners of his mouth were twitching as he tried not to smile. "Remember what Dr. Robins said."

After one of the most awkward talks with a doctor in his life (and that included the one where he talked about bottoming and topping), Dr. Robins said they had to wait at least two weeks to have sex again. It would have been less awkward if she hadn't said, "Why are you asking about this, Mr. Potter? You can barely move the lower half of your body!"

To which he had blurted out, "But Draco can!"

She had turned red and stopped asking them questions after that out burst.

Harry's cheeks blushed a light pink. "Fine. This is going to be a rough week and a half."

"It'll be rough after that, too," teased Draco. "Don't forget, you promised me something before you took a three week nap."

Harry gave him a sharp rap on the top of his head. 

Draco laughed and kissed him, slow and long. When he pulled back he said, "I already said this like twice, but you couldn't talk or even hear me at the time. I love you." 

Harry's heart felt like it had missed the last three steps on a flight of stairs as he said, "I love you, too, Draco." 

There was still so much going on in their lives: Cho's trial and sentencing (which Harry and Hermione were to speak at), Harry making up his missed courses, Hermione and Ron tying the knot after four years of being together (he was planning on proposing after the trial) and easing his way back into his old life. The doctors and nurses all assured Harry he would be back to playing soccer in no time and he was just _itching_ to get back onto the playing field. 

Harry's feelings of doubt and worry evaporated as soon Draco kissed Harry goodnight but didn't get up to sleep in his own bed. Harry was still nervous about the future, but he knew everything would be okay as long as he had Draco and his friends standing right beside him. 

 

**The End**

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First, A huge thanks to everybody who read this.  
> I want to write more Hogwarts AUs so please tell me if you have any suggestions


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